Actor Sam Neill dies, known for 'Jurassic Park' and 'The Piano'

BarcelonaNew Zealand actor Sam Neill (Omagh, 1947) has died at the age of 78, as reported by the family in a statement collected by the Reuters agency. With a career spanning over five decades and 150 roles, Neill was best known for starring in films such as Jurassic Park (1993), in which he played paleontologist Alan Grant. Among his best-known performances are also the farmer in the film The Piano (1993) and Major Chester Campbell in the first two seasons of the series Peaky Blinders (2013-2014). Praised above all for his interpretive versatility, Neill's career was recognized worldwide. The film The Piano, which he starred in with Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Neill was also nominated three times for Golden Globes and once for an Emmy. In 2019 he visited Catalonia to receive the Grand Honorary Prize at the Sitges Film Festival.

Born in the South Pacific archipelago, Neill moved to Australia in the late 1970s, when his acting career began to take off. One of the first titles that marked his career was My Brilliant Career (1979), an Australian period film that competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Two years later, he played an international spy in the cult horror film Possession (1981), directed by Andrzej Zulawski, which would skyrocket his career worldwide. "It was a difficult, very demanding shoot. Zulawski was a monster but also a genius, and the film masterfully combines realism and melodrama with the fantastic element and a touch of surrealism," Neill recalled in 2019 in an interview with ARA.

Throughout the 80s, the actor cultivated a film career with titles such as Ivanhoe (1982), the biopicA Cry in the Dark (1988) and The Hunt for Red October (1990). But 1993 was Sam Neill's big year, with two films that would make him an international star: The Piano, directed by Jane Campion and awarded three Oscars, and Jurassic Park, the first in one of the most famous film sagas in history. The actor did not appear in the second part of the trilogy, but returned in 2001 with Jurassic Park 3 and also in Jurassic World 3. Despite the success the Jurassic saga brought him, Neill remained away from the Hollywood spotlight. "During the Jurassic Park era, I had young children and I didn't want them to grow up in Hollywood, it's a strange place for a child. If I had stayed to live in Los Angeles, perhaps my career would be different, but I am very happy with the one I have," the actor explained.

Villains and Men in Love

Neill's acting career is made, above all, of memorable protagonists in romantic films and charismatic villains like the antichrist yuppie of the third installment of The prophecy (Damien's End, 1981) or the mad scientist ofFinal horizon (1997). From the end of the last century and practically until now, the actor did not stop working. Some of his most notable titles are At the heart of fear (1994), The Bicentennial Man (1999), The moon live (2000) and Perfect strangers (2003). In 1986 he was one of the possible candidates to play James Bond, replacing Roger Moore, and Neill even auditioned for it. In the end, the role went to Timothy Dalton. "I didn't really want to be James Bond, but my agent forced me to audition. I'm glad I didn't get the part, honestly. It would have ruined my career," he said in 2019.

In recent decades, Neill has worked primarily in television. One of the most relevant roles of these years is the corrupt inspector Chester Campbell in the series "Peaky Blinders. The actor has also made appearances in The Tudors (2007) and The Twelve (2021). In 2023, the actor publicly revealed that he had been diagnosed with advanced blood cancer. Just last April, Neill appeared in an interview on the Australian channel 7 News to announce that, after undergoing treatment for five years, he was cancer-free. "It's time to make a new movie," he said at the time. Neill has two films pending release: L'últim recurs and Godzilla x Kong: Supernova.