Sam Neill
Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, is a New Zealand actor, writer, producer, director and vineyard proprietor.
Born in Omagh, Northern Ireland, he moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, with his family in 1954. Neill first achieved recognition with his appearance in the 1977 film Sleeping Dogs, which he followed with leading roles in My Brilliant Career, , Possession, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt For Red October, and The Piano. He came to international prominence as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park.
Outside of film, Neill has appeared in numerous television series, including Reilly, Ace of Spies, The Simpsons, Merlin, The Tudors, Crusoe, Happy Town, Alcatraz, Peaky Blinders and Rick and Morty. He has presented and narrated several documentaries.
Neill is the recipient of the Longford Lyell Award and the New Zealand Film Award and also the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actor. He has three Golden Globe and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He lives in Queenstown and has three children and one stepchild.
Early life
Northern Ireland
Neill was born in 1947 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to Priscilla Beatrice and Dermot Neill. His father, an army officer, was a third-generation New Zealander, while his mother was born in England. His great-grandfather Percy Neill left Belfast in Northern Ireland for New Zealand in 1860, settling in Dunedin. He was the son of a wine merchant importing wine from France.At the time of Neill's birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland, serving with the Royal Irish Fusiliers. His father's family owned Neill and Co.. Neill holds British and Irish citizenship through his place of birth, but identifies primarily as a New Zealander.
New Zealand
In 1954, Neill moved with his family to New Zealand, where he attended the Anglican boys' boarding school Christ's College, Christchurch. He went on to study English literature at the University of Canterbury, where he had his first exposure to acting. He moved to Wellington to continue his tertiary education at Victoria University, where he graduated with a BA in English literature.In 2004, on the Australian talk show Enough Rope, interviewer Andrew Denton briefly touched on the issue of Neill's stuttering. It affected most of his childhood and as a result he was "hoping that people wouldn't talk to " so he would not have to answer. He also stated, "I kind of outgrew it. I can still... you can still detect me as a stammerer."
He first took to calling himself "Sam" at school because there were several other students named Nigel, and because he felt the name Nigel was "a little effete for... a New Zealand playground".
Acting career
New Zealand
Neil's first film was a New Zealand television movie The City of No. He followed it with a short, The Water Cycle and the TV movie Hunt's Duffer. Neill wrote and directed a film for the New Zealand National Film Unit, Telephone Etiquette. He was also appeared in Landfall.Neill's breakthrough performance in New Zealand was the film Sleeping Dogs, the first local film to be widely screened abroad.
Australia
Neill went to Australia where he had a guest role on the TV show The Sullivans. He was the romantic male lead in My Brilliant Career, opposite Judy Davis; this film was a big international success.He made some Australian films that were less widely seen – The Journalist, Just Out of Reach and Attack Force Z, and appeared in television productions like Young Ramsay and Lucinda Brayford.
International career
In 1981 he won his first big international role, as Damien Thorn, son of the devil, in '; also in that year, he played an outstanding main role in Andrzej Żuławski's cult film Possession.He was one of the leading candidates to succeed Roger Moore in the role of James Bond, but lost out to Timothy Dalton. Among his many Australian roles is playing Michael Chamberlain in Evil Angels , a film about the case of Azaria Chamberlain.
Neill has played heroes and occasionally villains in a succession of film and television dramas and comedies. In the UK, he won early fame and was Golden Globe nominated after portraying real-life spy, Sidney Reilly, in the mini-series Reilly, Ace of Spies. An early American starring role was in 1987's Amerika, playing a senior KGB officer leading the occupation and division of a defeated United States. His leading and co-starring roles in films include the thriller Dead Calm, the two-part historical epic La Révolution française , The Hunt for Red October, Death in Brunswick, Jurassic Park, Sirens, The Jungle Book, John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness, Event Horizon, Bicentennial Man, and the comedy The Dish.
during the Toronto International Film Festival, 2009
Neill has occasionally acted in New Zealand films, including The Piano, Perfect Strangers, Under the Mountain, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He returned to directing in 1995 with the documentary ' which he wrote and directed with Judy Rymer.
In 1993, he co-starred with Anne Archer in Question of Faith, an independent drama based on a true story about one woman's fight to beat cancer and have a baby. In 2000, he provided the voice of Sam Sawnoff in The Magic Pudding. In 2001, he hosted and narrated a documentary series for the BBC entitled Space.
He portrayed the eponymous wizard in Merlin, a miniseries based on the legends of King Arthur. He reprised his role in the sequel, Merlin's Apprentice.
Neill starred in the historical drama The Tudors, playing Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. "I have to say I really enjoyed making The Tudors", he said, "It was six months with a character that I found immensely intriguing, with a cast that I liked very much and with a story I found very compelling. It has elements that are hard to beat: revenge and betrayal, lust and treason, all the things that make for good stories."
He acted in the short-lived Fox TV series Alcatraz as Emerson Hauser. He played the role of Otto Luger in the fantasy adventure movie '. He had a role in the BBC series Peaky Blinders, set in post-World War I Birmingham. He played the role of Chief Inspector Chester Campbell, a sadistic corrupt policeman, who came to clean up the town on Churchill's orders. In the 2015 BBC TV miniseries And Then There Were None, based on Agatha Christie's thriller, he played the role of General MacArthur.
In 2016, he starred in the New Zealand-made film, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Taika Waititi, as well as the ITV miniseries Tutankhamun. In 2017, Neill appeared in a scene in Waititi's fantasy sequel ', in which he portrays an actor playing Odin, alongside Luke Hemsworth and Matt Damon as actors playing Thor and Loki, respectively.
In 2018, he portrayed Mr. McGregor and also the voice of Tommy Brock in Peter Rabbit. In 2019, he was cast for the role of Denis Goldberg in Escape from Pretoria; however, the role was subsequently recast with Ian Hart. In late 2019, he was announced to renew his character of Dr Alan Grant in '', set for release in 2021.
Personal life
From about 1980 to 1989, Neill was in a relationship with actress Lisa Harrow. They have a son, Tim, born in 1983. Neill subsequently married make-up artist Noriko Watanabe in 1989 and they have one daughter, Elena. Neill separated from Watanabe in 2017, and as of early 2018 was dating Australian political journalist Laura Tingle.He is stepfather to Maiko Spencer, a daughter from Watanabe's first marriage. In his early 20s he fathered a son, Andrew, who was adopted by someone else. In 2014, Neill said the two "went looking for " and that their reunion was "much more grown-up" than expected.
Neill lives in Queenstown and owns a winery called Two Paddocks, consisting of a vineyard at Gibbston and two near Alexandra, all in the Central Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. His avocation is running Two Paddocks. "I'd like the vineyard to support me but I'm afraid it is the other way round. It is not a very economic business", said Neill, "It is a ridiculously time- and money-consuming business. I would not do it if it was not so satisfying and fun, and it gets me pissed once in a while." He enjoys sharing his exploits on the farm through social media. He names his farm animals after film-industry colleagues.
Neill has homes in Wellington, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia. He is a supporter of the Australian Speak Easy Association and the British Stammering Association. He supports the New Zealand Labour Party and the Australian Labor Party.
Recognition
Neill was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1991 for his work as an actor. In 2007, Neill was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. When knighthoods were returned to the New Zealand royal honours system in 2009, those with DCNZM or higher honours were given the option of converting them into knighthoods. Neill chose not to do this, saying the title of Sir was "just far too grand, by far".Neill was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Canterbury in 2002. In 2020, he received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon Award, limited to 20 living people.