Sam Neill, 1947-2026

It’s been a little more than a month since Sam Neill died, and I meant to post a short note expressing my deep fondness for his career much sooner, but I put it off because I have not yet had a chance to see The Piano, which has just gotten a new 4K transfer and re-release. I was waiting for the chance to see it in theaters, but predictably it does not seem to be making its way to Alaska, so while I am confident the new transfer means it is coming to one of the plethora of streaming services, I have given up waiting for it.

I don’t really write about celebrities, but Sam Neill always had a very specific a strange presence that made his presence in a film automatically compelling, to me at least, and so for a number of years he was always one of “my guys” – the actors who I am always elated to see show up, in however small a part. I was also quite fond of his many Instagram posts from his New Zealand winery, where he carried on an extremely Hobbit-like existence during his last years. Here’s some highlights of old Sam.

He was most famous for Jurassic Park, of course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8WaFvwtphY

As a young and severe-featured man, he is wonderful in My Brilliant Career (spoilers for the movie): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7paJkdRUl0‍ ‍

Many people have enjoyed his scenery-chewing work as the warped Dr. Weir in Event Horizon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAchA32z2zM‍ ‍

I love his beautifully articulation of his American dream in The Hunt for Red October: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8JW75Lv25k‍ ‍

He astonishes, even in support of a greater performance, in the extremely disturbing Possession: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLXW-oVbTxE‍ ‍

And of course, perhaps his finest work - In the Mouth of Madness, a tour de force (spoilers for the end of the movie): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xx6elsNg-Y