{"id":547804,"date":"2026-07-13T17:43:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T17:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/547804\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T17:43:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T17:43:45","slug":"cillian-murphy-on-sam-neill-i-admired-him-and-adored-him-in-equal-measure-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/547804\/","title":{"rendered":"Cillian Murphy on Sam Neill: \u2018I admired him and adored him in equal measure\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sam Neill\u2019s<\/a> friends, peers and admirers have rushed to pay tribute to the actor, after his sudden death on Monday at the age of 78<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cillian Murphy<\/a>, who starred alongside Neill in Peaky Blinders, described him as \u201cone of the finest actors\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike everyone who knew and worked with Sam, I admired him and adored him in equal measure,\u201d Murphy said in a statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people, and one of the finest actors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steven Spielberg<\/a>, who directed Neill in Jurassic Park, said he was \u201csaddened\u201d by the news of Neill\u2019s death. \u201cSam was exceptionally collaborative,\u201d Spielberg said. \u201cIt was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicole Kidman<\/a>, who starred with Neill in 1989\u2019s Dead Calm, said the actor was \u201cone of the greats\u201d and \u201ca joy to be around,\u201d in a statement. \u201cHe was charming, kind, funny and intelligent. He will be greatly missed and my heart goes out to his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard E Grant, a friend of Neill\u2019s for more than three decades who starred alongside him in 2019\u2019s Palm Beach, called him \u201can officer and a gentleman in the truest sense\u201d. Grant said Neill \u201cguided and helped me through a very difficult time in my life\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Remembering Sam Neill: The breadth of Omagh-born actor\u2019s work was extraordinaryOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Alan Cumming called him \u201ca glorious beautiful man\u201d, while Kylie Minogue wrote: \u201cVale Sam,\u201d a Latin term for farewell or goodbye used in Australia.<\/p>\n

Actor Magda Szubanski, a friend who Neill once named one of his ducks after, said she was \u201cabsolutely shocked\u201d by his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I spoke to him not long ago, he was cancer-free and really happy and excited about life, so this is just devastating,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was just a one-off. Just such a talented, classy, beautiful, wry, warm human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The remarkable life of Sam Neill, from Omagh to Jurassic Park – in picturesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The Australian journalist Laura Tingle, with whom Neill had a relationship, posted pictures of them together on Instagram and wrote: \u201cSweet Dreams darling Sam.\u201d<\/p>\n

The New Zealand prime minister, Christopher Luxon, said Neill was one of the greats: \u201cHe started out when there was barely a film industry in this country to speak of,\u201d Luxon said in a social media post. \u201cFor more than 50 years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today \u2013 one of our greatest cultural exports. His work will be watched and loved long after all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also paying tribute was Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese: \u201cSam Neill starred in so many beloved Australian stories and he earned a special place in Australian hearts. Wry and dry, thoughtful and laconic, Sam fought illness with the same dignity, humour and conviction that gave strength to his every performance. He will be much mourned and long remembered. May he rest in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern said in a Facebook post that she\u2019d spent time with Neill just a few weeks ago where they discussed \u201clife, politics, and home\u201d. She added: \u201cHe was such a thoughtful, curious, and decent person. Someone who was principled, unafraid of speaking his mind, and willing to take up a fight when he saw injustice. He was also an artist, and anyone who watched him perform knew he was someone special.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Sam \u200cNeill, Irish-New Zealand actor, dies aged 78Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Fijian New Zealand director Toa Fraser, whose film Dean Spanley starred Neill as the titular character, said: \u201cSam championed me and so many of us right from the start. He changed my life, by his example and his actions \u2026 it\u2019s one of my big regrets that when he came to me on the set of Dean Spanley (more than once) and said, \u2018Do you want to come for dinner,\u2019 I declined. I had homework to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell I will be raising a glass of Hungarian Tokay this evening to him, and probably a glass of Pinot in the Burgundian tradition to him and his mentor James Mason too.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Sam Neill: \u2018I\u2019m not having Jimmy Nesbitt turned into sausages\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Outside his acting work, Neill was a passionate environmentalist who campaigned for various causes including marine conservation and against mining proposals in New Zealand. After his death, New Zealand\u2019s department of conservation called Neill \u201ca legendary Kiwi\u201d and \u201ca fierce and passionate champion for our environment\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it was advocating for our native species, supporting local conservation projects, or simply sharing his deep love for our unique landscapes, Sam walked the talk. He understood that our nature isn\u2019t just something to look at, it\u2019s something we must cherish and protect. His warmth, wit, and unwavering voice for the wild will be deeply missed.\u201d \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sam Neill\u2019s friends, peers and admirers have rushed to pay tribute to the actor, after his sudden death…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[8325,35991,2920,93,61,60,232159,32038,5479,18749,185276,18586],"class_list":["post-547804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-alan-cumming","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-cillian-murphy","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jacinda-ardern","tag-kylie-minogue","tag-nicole-kidman","tag-richard-e-grant","tag-sam-neill","tag-steven-spielberg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}