Sam Neill was 78 when he passed away on July 13.
I remember fondly this great actor who invariably gave solid performances.
SAM NEILL (c) Elisa Leonelli 1988
I first interviewed and photographed him in 1988, when he spoke to us, journalists of the Hollywood Foreign Press, about A Cry in the Dark by director Fred Schepisi, starring Meryl Streep.
I had the privilege of speaking to him during one-on-ones (which means I was the only journalist in the room, as opposed to round tables or press conferences) in 1995 about Country Life, co-starring Greta Scacchi, and in 2001 about Jurassic Park III.
I also met him with Laura Dern in 1993 about the first Jurassic Park directed by Steven Spielberg, and a few other times.
In March 2023, when Sam Neill published his autobiography Did I Ever Tell You This?, I proposed to the editors of the Golden Globes website to feature what he had said to HFPA about Jurassic Park in my weekly column of Archival quotes, but they rejected my proposal.
SAM NEILL (c) Elisa Leonelli 1988
Here’s some quotes from my 2001 interview.
Where does your love of nature, gardening and wine-making come from?
“I grew up in a small city in Dunedin, South Island, but our summer holidays were always up in the mountains in Central Otago. We’d camp out and my father would take us fishing up there. So I got to know that area very well, and it had always been a dream of mine, if I ever got enough money to buy some land and build a house, that I would do that. That’s how we ended up being there, and I’ve been planting my vineyards up there.”
Tell me more about your vineyards and what kind of wine do you produce?
“We live up in the mountains. It is one of those very few rare tiny pockets in the world, like Burgundy in France, where you can actually grow good Burgundy Pinot Noir. It’s almost impossible in most other places, because you need a very long growing season. So for instance, in Tuscany, the grape doesn’t have the chance to ripen in a successful way. It was really coincidental that Burgundy is my favorite red wine, and it turns out that I live in an area where you can grow it. So I’m now planting my third vineyard, we continue to expand, make better and better wine and have more fun with it.”
Your wife worked as a make-up artist in Rome on Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York. Did you also travel to Italy and what do you love about my country?
“Yes, indeed, I visited the set at Cinecittà, I was incredibly impressed by those sets for Gangs of New York. They were amazing, I’ve seen nothing like that here or anywhere else. I was also mindful of the fact that all the great Visconti and Antonioni and Fellini movies were shot at Cinecittà, there’s so much history in that studio. I’m always pleased to get back to Italy, we’ve been there several times on holidays, we rent villas in Tuscany, and Italy is my favorite European country. It just has everything, great culture and history, excellent people, very affordable, good wine, which we all seem to drink a lot of when we’re there.”
You also have a place in Sydney, Australia. What is that like?
“I’ve always had a connection with the soil, and it’s very important for me to live in a garden. In Sydney we have a tropical garden, it’s like being in Bali or something like that. In New Zealand we have a very different kind of garden, it’s very alpine. I’m very keen on native trees, and more than anything, I like planting trees, in my life I’ve planted hundreds and hundreds of trees. I get immense satisfaction from seeing the trees that I have planted grown to big trees. That to me is enormously satisfying, it’s the finest things to do.”
SAM NEILL (c) Elisa Leonelli 1988
I decided to write my master thesis on Robert Redford and the America West after seeing A River Runs Through It. When I interviewed him, I asked if fishing was as bad as hunting, since you are killing animals. Did you talk to Redford about fly-fishing, when he directed you in The Horse Whisperer?
“Of course I did. I’ve been a fly fisherman all my life, because I was taught by my father. But all good fly fishermen do what we call catch and release, we let the trout off the hook and throw it back into the river. I know I’ve caught fish that are probably on their 7th or 8th fisherman. Redford said his one regret about that film is that a lot more people took up the sport, and that meant more pressure on the rivers than there was already.”
Among his favorite movies Sam Neill mentioned:
My Brilliant Career (1979) by Gilliam Armstrong with Judy David
Dead Calm (1989) by Phillip Noyce with Nicole Kidman
The Piano (1993) by Jane Campion with Holly Hunter
I also liked The Dish (2000) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) by Taika Waititi.
Rest in Peace dear Sam, you lived a good life and had a great sense of humor.