‘He made everyone feel like they were in on the joke’ … Sam Neill photographed in 2016. Photograph: Variety/Penske Media/Getty Images View image in fullscreen ‘He made everyone feel like they were in on the joke’ … Sam Neill photographed in 2016. Photograph: Variety/Penske Media/Getty Images Sam Neill ‘He made wine and he shared it. What more do you want?’: Sam Neill remembered by his co-stars The actors Lindsay Duncan and Charles Dance, alongside director Peter Webber, pay tribute to a practical joker, unpretentious craftsman and ‘very cool guy’
Prefer the Guardian on Google ‘A gorgeous man and a wonderful actor’ Lindsay Duncan, co-star, Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983) and Blackbird (2019)
I worked with Sam on Reilly when I was young and shy and even though I was pinned over a desk by him in one scene, I didn’t really make the most of the experience. Then a few years ago we did a film called Blackbird, directed by Roger Michell, with an amazing bunch of actors and we all became close. Sam was a gorgeous man. He was a wonderful actor. He was warm and funny. He listened when you talked. He made wine and he shared it. What more do you want from a guy?
When Sam was going through a particularly hard phase of treatment, the Blackbird group decided he needed cheering up. After much deep thought from us all and the exchange of many hilarious images, Mia Wasikowska commissioned a cake from a friend of hers which was a pig and a sheep involved in an intimate act, with a bottle of Two Paddocks next to them, on its side. Just a few of the things he loved, in one cake. We all have tattoos of a little Blackbird, so that will go with him.
View image in fullscreen Sam Neill and Lindsay Duncan in Reilly: Ace of Spies. Photograph: Fremantle Media/Shutterstock ‘He wasn’t tarnished by cardinal ambition’ Charles Dance, co-star, Plenty (1985), To the Ends of the Earth (2005) and And Then There Were None (2015)
In an industry that’s full of quite dubious people, Sam was one of the good guys. He was a wonderful, unfussy actor with immense charm who was also incredibly handsome. I always got the impression he was really balanced. There must have been occasions when he was anxious and insecure and paranoid, but it wasn’t ever apparent. He was just a very cool guy.
Sam was always far more interested in the quality of his wine than in any awards for acting. When we wrapped filming on And Then There Were None, he gave us all some of the very, very good pinot noir from his winery, which he was very proud of. Between jobs, he would disappear back to New Zealand. He wasn’t tarnished by that kind of cardinal ambition that is rife in our industry – but nor was he complacent. He just took life as it came.
View image in fullscreen Sam Neill and Charles Dance with fellow cast members in And Then There Were None. Photograph: BBC/Allstar When he was diagnosed with cancer, and led to believe he might only have six months, I sent him an email saying: “Good luck, Sam, come on, you can get through this.” He wrote back saying: “Great to hear from you mate!” With him, what you saw was what you got. I think that was one of the reasons he inspired so much affection. In this business, all of us – however much we’d deny it – have public and private faces. Sam had the same face in both places. I really wish I’d spent more time with him, because that little time I did spend with him was so rewarding.
Peter Webber, director, Tutankhamun (2016)
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