Miranda Otto
The Los Angeles-based Australian actress recalls the joy of reaching gastronomic nirvana... at an Italian truck stop.
What was your typical childhood holiday?
My mum [fashion designer and retailer Lindsay Otto] was always working and never much for taking holidays. We lived in Hong Kong for a period then we would go back there a few times a year with her to buy fabric. They were, I suppose, “work holidays”. I did have family vacations with my grandparents, where we’d just drive from Brisbane, maybe taking the New England Highway down into NSW then on to Victoria to see relatives. It was really cute and old-school and exactly what you’d expect at the time. There were hats, Thermoses and blankets in the back of the car. We never spent anything we didn’t need to spend and we looked for the best petrol prices as we drove. We’d stay in motels and stop to eat in parks on picnic benches. My grandfather kept curried sausages in Tupperware containers in the Esky and I would say, “Aw, I can’t eat that!” I was not an adventurous eater.
Have you had any other memorable dining experiences on your travels?
On a road trip through Italy years ago, I ate at this truck stop restaurant near the medieval village of Brisighella. I thought it would be average but I had the best truffle pasta of my life.
Is there a place that was a culture shock?
When I was about seven, my dad [actor Barry Otto] put me on a plane to Hong Kong. I flew alone and at the other end, waiting for Mum, I’d never seen so many people. In Brisbane in the 1970s, you didn’t deal with any human congestion – your personal space was enormous. In Hong Kong, people would touch me all the time; they were intrigued by how fair-skinned I was. It wasn’t frightening, just strange, but I would say to Mum, “Can you get them to stop?” Now, whenever I’m in an Asian country I love the intensity of so many people on the street. It feels very alive.
“WE WERE STRANDED ON A DIRT ROAD IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.”
Have you ever been lost?
In Africa in the mid-1990s, my then boyfriend and I were doing an epic road trip from Cape Town to Johannesburg and we broke down; we were stranded on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. We ended up being picked up by a white guy who was incredibly racist – I had to bite my tongue. We had to take what we could get because we had no other option.
When you walk into a hotel room, what do you do first?
Probably check out the room-service menu. It’s such a luxury to have someone else cook for you, especially when you’re travelling for work.
Is there a destination that you could have given a miss?
Sometimes your experience is not so much about the place as what’s going on at the time [for you]. I worked in Manchester in England once and ended up really, really sick in this horrible hotel in the middle of nowhere. I had the worst couple of days of my life in that hotel room. But that’s not a fair representation of Manchester; it was just my two days there.
Do you have a travel bugbear?
Yes, I hate packing because it’s so boring. Even though I do it all the time for my work, I find myself leaving it later and later.
When you go away, what souvenirs are you most likely to bring home?
I tend to buy one special piece as a memento rather than lots of little ones. When I was filming a movie at Uluru many years ago, I bought a really beautiful painting for my house.
Where would you most like to take your daughter, Darcy?
Africa. She’s 13 now and old enough to appreciate the culture and, of course, the animals. Pete [O’Brien, Otto’s actor husband] and I have always talked about it as somewhere magical so she’s caught the bug.
If you could be anywhere else in the world right now, where would you choose?
I’d like to go to Greenland and Iceland to see the white nights. But at this moment, I’d choose to be back in Australia. It’s been almost a year since my last visit; I miss family and friends and the poached eggs and toast from my favourite local café.