Making her American debut in "The Thin Red Line" (1998), director Terrence Malick's Oscar-nomionated meditation on war, Otto quickly caught the attention of Hollywood filmmakers and the actress snared high-profile supporting roles in the HBO Western telepic "The Jack Bull" (1999) opposite John Cusack, and director Robert Zemeckis' "What Lies Beneath" (2000) opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford. But by far her biggest international exposure came when she joined the ensemble of director Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, bowing as beautiful, battle-ready Eowyn in the second instalment, "The Two Towers" (2002) and returning for the finale, "The Return of the King" (2003). In between, she appeared opposite Rhys Ifans in writer-director Jeff Balsmeyer's offbeat Australian film "Danny Deckchair" (2003), a tale inspired by a true story, as a female parking officer who falls for a man who lands in har yard after taking to the sky in a lawnchair tied to balloons.

Next for Otto was the New Zealand-made mystery "In My Father's Den" (2004) and then she headlined the Aussie TV miniseries "Through My Eyes" (2004) as Lindy Chamberlain, the real-life woman suspected in her baby's disappearance after she claimed a dingo carried the child off (the inspiration for the Meryl Streep film "A Cry in the Dark"). Back in Hollywood, she starred opposite Dennis Quaid in the remake of "Flight of the Phoenix" (2004) as an oil engineer among the survivors of a downed military aircraft. Then it was on to a brief but effective role as Tom Cruise's ex-wife in Steven Spielberg's riveting remake of the sci-fi classic "War of the Worlds" (2005).