Farewell, Sam Neill(1947-2026)

Hearing the announcement this morning of Sam’s “sudden and unexpected” death felt like a punch to my heart. He’s been one of my favourite actors for so long. The following are my favourite films and performances of his: Reilly, Ace Of Spies(TV), Dead Calm, My Brilliant Career, Hunt For The Wilderpeople(a rare opportunity to use his dry sense of humour on screen), The Twelve(TV), Bicentennial Man(the scene where he watches the recording of himself dancing with his daughter on her wedding day gets me every time), Peaky Blinders(TV), Rams and Jurassic Park. With Judy Davis in Gillian Armstrong’s My Brilliant Career(1979). Image source IMDb. While I loved and appreciated his work on screen, I adored him even more for who he really was in everyday life: gentle, self deprecating, kind and warm. I will always fondly remember the hilarious, clever and totally random videos that he put together and frequently shared on social media during the lockdown. Those videos were a real tonic during…