Sam Neill has passed

[Rove]

It's with great sadness the family of Sam Neill has announced he passed away in Sydney aged 78.​

 

[Rove]

An iconic caption from Jurassic Park. Still one of my favourite movies​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

For some reason, I routinely repeat the mental gymnastics of thinking Sam Neill was in Knots Landing before realising I'm mixing him up with Bruce Greenwood (Sam did appear in The Sullivans, though).

Anyway, in addition to being great in Jurassic Park, The Real Sam Neill was delightfully arch as Damien Thorn in The Final Conflict (the third film in The Omen trilogy. Even the critics who slated the film the film recognise he's the best thing in it. There's a video on YouTube where Sam - circa Jurassic Park - is asked about it. Even though he cringes and clearly understands its reputation, he still comments (with some understatement) that he felt there were "one or two good acting moments". He doesn't specify his performance, but the fact remain it's his film, and it shows in the trailer:

 

[Emelee]

I was immediately going "No!!!" when I watched the news this morning. He was a favorite.

Rest in peace, Sam.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I read Rove's post this morning at work and it's been on my mind all day long.
Not all his films are great, but that goes for most actors, but Sam Neill himself was always pleasant to watch. He was terrific in Possession (1981) playing Isabelle Adjani's husband. Admittedly, it's not a crowd-pleasing mainstream film but I think Sam Neill deserves to be remembered for more than Jurassic Park (which is all over the internet now).
It was only a few weeks ago that I asked myself, why didn't I watch Reilly, Ace Of Spies when it was on television in the 1980s?

One of the last things I watched during my previous Netflix subscription was the documentary The Show Must Go On from 2019. I'll just copy the description from IMDB:

The Show Must Go On is the first film to tell the story of the mental health of the 42,000 people working in the Australian entertainment industry. While 'show business' is often seen as glamorous, fun, exciting, and well paid, recent and alarming world-first research from Entertainment Assist and Victoria University paints a darker picture for entertainment workers. Anxiety symptoms are 10 times higher, sleep disorders are 7 times higher and symptoms of depression are 5 times higher than the national average. Suicide attempts in the industry are double the national average. This film follows former Home and Away actor and debut documentary filmmaker Ben Steel on a soul-searching investigation into why are there so many entertainment workers developing and struggling with mental wellbeing issues.

Various actors, writers and directors are inteviewed including Sam Neill - barefoot, as only an Australian actor would do.
I don't remember his precise words but it was something like "I don't see myself as an actor, I just happen to be in film and TV every now and then".

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Today I discovered Sam also played the Ukulele. There's a brilliant series of videos on YT, filmed during Covid lockdowns, in which Sam chats away then gives a burst of a song.