Sam Neill
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Biography
Few stars could boast a track record of turning in solid performances ranging from understated intensity to completely unhinged with such consistency as actor Sam Neill. Beginning with his work as a member of the New Zealand National Film Unit, Neill began to make a name for himself in his homeland with small films like "Sleeping Dogs" (1977). After moving to Australia for various film and television work, he received international exposure with the third entry in the popular "Omen" horror series as Damian Thorn in "The Final Conflict" (1981). From there it was on to a nearly uninterrupted run of impressive performances alongside some of film's biggest stars in projects such as the underrated "Dead Calm" (1989), co-starring Nicole Kidman, and the Academy Award-winning "The Piano" (1993), featuring Harvey Keitel and Holly Hunter. Neill then headlined one of the biggest blockbuster films of all time as the levelheaded Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" (1993). Almost effortlessly, he would continue to move from genres ranging from horror (1995's "In the Mouth of Madness"), to comedy (2000's "The Dish"), to historical drama (the 2007 season of Showtime's "The Tudors"), and back again with apparent ease. Over the years, the once supposedly camera shy Neill had steadily become one of the most welcome international presences on screen - be it film or television - of his generation.
Born Nigel John Dermot Neill on Sept. 14, 1947 in Omagh, Ireland (County Tyrone in British-occupied Northern Ireland), "Sam" moved with his family to Dunedin, New Zealand when he was three. After attending boarding school at Christ's College in Christchurch, Neill studied English literature at the University of Canterbury. Emerging from university, he became a member of the New Zealand National Film Unit and began directing documentaries, making only occasional forays in front of the camera - at the time he was crippled by stage fright - in fringe productions and short films. Finally, after six years with the film unit, Neill took to acting with a passion, landing the lead role in Roger Donaldson's "Sleeping Dogs" (1977), New Zealand's first feature to receive a theatrical release in the United States. Soon after, the actor relocated to Australia where he first gained acclaim for his performance as a turn-of-the-century rancher in Gillian Armstrong's "My Brilliant Career" (1979), opposite Judy Davis as a headstrong young girl determined to maintain her independence. Neill's performance made an impact, in particular on film icon James Mason, who contacted Neill and encouraged him to come to London and take on an agent. Neill took the venerable actor's advice, and as a consequence won the lead in "The Final Conflict" (1981), the third entry in the "Omen" franchise. Neill's portrayal of the adult anti-Christ marked his U.S. debut, and while the film was the least successful of the series, it undeniably gained him international recognition. In another, even darker tale of terror, Neill played the suspicious husband of Isabelle Anjani in Andrzej Zulawski's cult psychological horror film, "Possession" (1981). Back in Australia, Neill next worked alongside future megastar Mel Gibson in "Attack Force Z" (1982), a World War II action adventure also starring B-movie veteran John Philip Law.
For much of the 1980s, Neill added to his steadily growing résumé with a mixture of feature films and television projects. In the U.S., he took part in an adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's medieval classic "Ivanhoe" (CBS, 1982), co-starring friend and mentor James Mason. Across the pond, Neill turned in a highly regarded performance as Sydney Reilly, Britain's first super-spy, in the fact-based, 12-part series "Reilly: Ace of Spies" (PBS, 1984). The following year, Neill was cast alongside rising star Meryl Streep for the first time, in the post-WWII romantic drama "Plenty" (1985) - one of Streep's few early missteps. Back in the States, Neill made more television appearances with a pair of miniseries among them; first, chewing the scenery with Peter Strauss in a tale of rivalry and greed, "Kane & Abel" (CBS, 1985), and later in the dismal "Amerika" (ABC, 1987), a cautionary tale about a Soviet takeover of the United States. Reunited with Streep in the gripping "A Cry in the Dark" (1988), Neill played the husband of a woman (Streep) who claimed that her child had been attacked by a wild animal, only to later be accused of the death herself. In the tear-jerking "Leap of Faith" (CBS, 1988), Neill played the husband of Anne Archer, a woman diagnosed with cancer who begins looking for answers not provided by modern medicine. Continuing with his string of stalwart husband roles, Neill delivered an understated, yet intense performance in the nautical thriller "Dead Calm" (1989). Based on the novel by pulp writer Charles Williams, "Dead Calm" starred the then barely known Nicole Kidman as Neill's resourceful wife, a woman who finds herself kidnapped by an insane murderer, who then commandeers their boat, leaving Neill to die, trapped on a sinking vessel. As the crazed Hughie, Billy Zane's over-the-top portrayal may have stolen the scenes he appeared in, but it was Neill who the audience rooted for every step of the way.
Neill began the next decade with a supporting role in his first truly big budget U.S. feature, "The Hunt for Red October" (1990), starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin. Adapted from the Tom Clancy military thriller, the film was a blockbuster hit and upped his profile substantially. After contributing to Wim Wenders' muddled, near-future science fiction road movie "Until the End of the World" (1991), Neill did time on director John Carpenter's utterly forgettable "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" (1992). During this busy time, Neill managed another stint on the small screen with "Family Pictures" (ABC, 1993), a family drama co-starring Angelica Huston. Allowing him to film again in New Zealand for the first time in 14 years was the spellbinding romantic drama "The Piano" (1993), in which Neill played a decidedly unsupportive husband this time around. Co-starring Harvey Keitel and directed by Jane Campion, "The Piano" was a favorite with critics, earning Oscars for both young actress Anna Paquin and its star, Holly Hunter, as a mute woman sent to 19th Century New Zealand with her daughter, due to an arranged marriage. Neill's profile was on the rise, but it was in the role of a skeptical paleontologist trapped on an island with blood-thirsty, bio-engineered dinosaurs that he entered the pop-culture zeitgeist in a big way. Adapted from the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, "Jurassic Park" (1993) marked Steven Spielberg's rip-roaring return to the action adventure genre he had mastered in the 1980s with the Indiana Jones films. Neill was perfectly cast as the work-obsessed man of science who suddenly finds himself the protector of two very frightened children. Just as with "Dead Calm," he provided a sense of measured rationality in an otherwise frighteningly chaotic narrative. The attention that followed the massive success of "Jurassic Park" resulted in Neill landing one role which proved he had truly arrived - a voice cameo on "The Simpsons" (Fox, 1989- ) in 1994.
Going against type, Neill next played a wild bohemian artist in the Australian-made "Sirens" (1994), co-starring Hugh Grant doing his usual flustered best as a sexually repressed minister, and supermodel Elle MacPherson as one of Neill's playful muses. Reteaming with horror-meister John Carpenter, Neill played an insurance investigator sent to look into the disappearance of the popular Stephen King-esque horror writer Sutter Kane (Jürgen Prochnow) in "In the Mouth of Madness" (1995). Although not a box office triumph, it marked a return to horror form for Carpenter, and provided Neill with another chance to illustrate his impressive range as an actor. That same year, Neill turned in an over-the-top performance as the rogue King Charles II, the benefactor - and later, bête noir - of Robert Downey Jr., in "Restoration" (1995). Neill returned to documentary filmmaking with "Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill" (1995), commissioned by the British Film Institute as part of its "The Century of Cinema" series. He reunited with Judy Davis in the Australian black comedy "Children of the Revolution" (1996), and made another entry into horror as a possessed space scientist in the visually stunning, but surprisingly tedious, "Event Horizon" (1997). Neill then delivered an all-out performance as the title character of "Merlin" (NBC, 1998), a $30 million special effects-laden miniseries, for which he earned critical kudos and an Emmy nomination. The actor also turned in a solid, albeit thankless, performance as Kristin Scott Thomas' understanding husband in "The Horse Whisperer" (1998), starring and directed by Robert Redford.
Neill continued to undertake challenging roles in a wide variety of projects. He was well cast as the wealthy man who brings home a robot to aid around the house in the Robin Williams futuristic dramedy, "Bicentennial Man" (1999). Neill also earned critical praise for a pair of Australian-produced films - "My Mother Frank" (1999), in which he essayed a chauvinistic, conservative college professor who butts heads with a fifty-something co-ed (Sinead Cusack), and "The Dish" (2000), as the cardigan-wearing scientist in charge of the telescope that was to relay signals of the American moon landing in 1969. And although he skipped the second installment of the juggernaut franchise, Neill revisited his role as paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in "Jurassic Park III" (2001). Neill continued to keep busy with a variety of low-profile Aussie and European productions, playing Victor Komarovsky in the English miniseries adaptation of "Dr. Zhivago" (PBS, 2003) opposite Hans Matheson and Keira Knightley. However, Neill continued to resurface in Hollywood productions, like the romantic comedy "Wimbledon" (2004), in which he played tennis ace Kirsten Dunst's ambitious, overly protective father. In British filmmaker Sally Potter's sexually and politically charged romantic drama "Yes" (2005), Neill played the English politician husband of Joan Allen's character, who enters into an affair with a Lebanese exile. A daring and provocative endeavor, its use of iambic pentameter alienated audiences. Continually attracted to Australian features, Neill gave a standout performance as the heavy in "Little Fish" (2005), playing a bisexual crime lord putting the screws to a former heroin addict (Cate Blanchett). Neill put the wizards cap back on for "Merlin's Apprentice" (Hallmark Channel, 2006), in addition to playing the rugged and freethinking Mr. Pettiman in "To the Ends of the Earth" (PBS, 2006), a "Masterpiece Theater" miniseries about the doomed voyage of a British warship traveling from England to Australia.
Always convincing in period pieces, Neill stole the show as the scheming Cardinal Wolsey, top advisor to King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), in the first season of "The Tudors" (Showtime, 2007-2010), a lavish historical melodrama depicting the conflicted monarch prior to his split from the Catholic Church. The veteran film actor then took a chance as a recurring cast member on a pair of network television series. "Crusoe" (NBC, 2008-09) revisited Daniel Defoe's classic shipwreck tale, and "Happy Town" (ABC, 2009-2010) was a mystery series that aspired to be "Twin Peaks" as channeled through Stephen King. Tellingly, both series were canceled almost as soon as they premiered. Neill was soon back in theaters playing a cold-blooded bureaucrat in the apocalyptic sci-fi horror effort, "Daybreakers" (2010), depicting a future in which humans are raised as cattle to feed the ruling vampire class. Neill followed up by voicing the role of Allomere in director Zack Snyder's animated fantasy adventure, "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" (2010).
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1977
Made feature film debut playing the lead in Roger Donaldson's "Sleeping Dogs," the first New Zealand film ever released in the United States
1978
Had his breakthrough role as the suitor to writer Sybylla Melvin in "My Brilliant Career," his first collaboration with Judy Davis
1981
First U.S. film, "Omen III: The Final Conflict," the third film in "The Omen" trilogy
1983
Played the title role of Sidney Reilly on the PBS drama series "Reilly, Ace of Spies"; earned a Golden Globe nomination
1985
Acted opposite Meryl Streep in Fred Schepisi's "Plenty"
1987
Portrayed Colonel Andrei Denisov in ABC's acclaimed miniseries "Amerika"
1988
Re-teamed with Schepisi and Streep for "A Cry in the Dark"
1989
Starred opposite Nicole Kidman in Phillip Noyce's "Dead Calm"
1990
Credited as John Dermot for his cameo in "Shadow of China"
1990
Played Captain Second Rank Vasily Borodin in "The Hunt for Red October"
1991
Played opposite Judy Davis in CBS's "One Against the Wind"
1991
Starred in the Australian film "Death in Brunswick"
1991
Acted in Wim Wenders' "Until the End of the World"
1992
First association with director John Carpenter, "Memoirs of an Invisible Man"
1993
Starred opposite Anjelica Huston in the ABC miniseries "Family Pictures"
1993
Starred as the New Zealand farmer who enters an arranged marriage with a Scottish woman in Jane Campion's "The Piano"
1993
Achieved superstardom as a paleontologist who encounters living dinosaurs in Steven Spielberg's blockbuster "Jurassic Park" adaptation
1995
Portrayed charismatic King Charles II in "Restoration"
1995
Re-teamed with Carpenter for "In the Mouth of Madness"
1995
Returned to documentary filmmaking with "Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey By Sam Neill," an autobiographical account of the New Zealand cinema; co-directed and co-scripted with Julie Rymer
1996
Re-teamed with Judy Davis for the black comedy "Children of the Revolution"
1997
Played the lead in "The Revengers' Comedies," co-starring Helena Bonham Carter and Kristin Scott Thomas (aired in the U.S. as "Sweet Revenge")
1998
Portrayed the legendary wizard in the acclaimed NBC miniseries "Merlin"; received an Emmy nomination
1998
Played Kristin Scott Thomas' husband in Robert Redford's "The Horse Whisperer"
1999
Appeared in a supporting role in the biopic "Molokai: The Story of Father Damien"
1999
Cast as a wealthy man who buys a robot for his family in "Bicentennial Man"
2000
Appeared in the Scandinavian drama "The Zoo Keeper"
2000
Portrayed U.S. President Thomas Jefferson in the CBS miniseries "Sally Hemings: An American Scandal"
2000
Starred in the Australian film "The Dish"
2001
Played a lead role in the based-on-fact NBC movie "Submerged"
2001
Co-starred in sequel "Jurassic Park III" alongside Tea Leoni and William H. Macy
2002
Was cast opposite Keira Knightley in the miniseries "Doctor Zhivago" (PBS)
2004
Played the father of Kirsten Dunst's character in the romantic comedy "Wimbledon"
2005
Co-starred with Cate Blanchett in the Australian film "Little Fish"
2005
Starred as Joan Allen's husband in "Yes"
2008
Played the title role in the British comedy-drama film "Dean Spanley" alongside Jeremy Northam and Peter O'Toole
2008
Was cast as Jeremiah Blackthorn on the NBC adventure series "Crusoe"
2009
Re-teamed with Peter O'Toole in the Canadian miniseries "Iron Road"
2010
Cast as Charles Bromley, a vampire in charge of a powerful corporation, in the sci-fi film "Daybreakers"
2010
Acted on the ABC mystery drama series "Happy Town"
2012
Featured on J. J. Abrams produced "Alcatraz" (Fox)
2012
Featured opposite Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum in romantic drama "The Vow"
2013
Had the recurring role of DSS Jim Stockton on crime drama "Harry"
2013
Played Chester Campbell on historical drama "Peaky Blinders"
2016
Co-starred in New Zealand adventure drama "Hunt for the Wilderpeople"
2016
Starred in the "Tutankhamun" miniseries
2017
Had a minor role in Marvel's "Thor: Ragnarok"
2018
Appeared in action thriller "The Commuter"
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