{"id":524500,"date":"2026-07-13T21:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T21:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/524500\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T21:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T21:51:14","slug":"steven-spielberg-nicole-kidman-cillian-murphy-mourn-sam-neill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/524500\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Spielberg, Nicole Kidman, Cillian Murphy mourn Sam Neill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fellow actors and fans of Sir Sam Neill mourned his passing<\/a> after the actor died Monday.<\/p>\n

Sir Sam achieved his highest level of fame in Jurassic Park<\/a> playing paleontologist Alan Grant, who is summoned to an island off Costa Rica where a theme park has been built to house herds of cloned dinosaurs. He co-starred alongside Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough.<\/p>\n

He earned an Emmy nomination for his performance in the title role of the 1998 miniseries Merlin and another as narrator of 2017\u2019s Wild New Zealand. Neill also earned three Golden Globe nods \u2014 for Merlin, One Against the Wind and Reilly: Ace of Spies.<\/p>\n

Film critic Kate Rodger reflects on Sir Sam’s life and career. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n

Some notable reactions:<\/p>\n

Steven Spielberg<\/p>\n

\u201cSam was exceptionally collaborative. It 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. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.\u201d \u2014 in a statement.<\/p>\n

Richard E. Grant, actor<\/p>\n

\u201cKnew @samneilltheprop for 3 decades and finally worked with him on \u2018PALM BEACH\u2019 in 2018. An officer and a Gentleman in the truest sense. Guided and helped me through a very difficult time in my Life \u2026 Sail on, kind Sir. \u2014 via Instagram.<\/p>\n

Cillian Murphy, actor<\/p>\n

\u201cLike everyone who knew and worked with Sam, I admired him and adored him in equal measure. He was one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people, and one of the finest actors \u2026 RIP.\u201d \u2014 in a statement.<\/p>\n

Nicole Kidman, actor<\/p>\n

\u201cSam was one of the greats, a joy to be around,\u201d she said. \u201cWe met when I was just 18 and he took me under his wing and we stayed friends for life. He was charming, kind, funny and intelligent. He will be greatly missed, and my heart goes out to his family.\u201d \u2014 in a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald.<\/p>\n

Colin Trevorrow, director<\/p>\n

\u201cSam Neill was a deeply soulful and beautiful man. He was a friend and collaborator at a challenging time, and his strength gave us all strength. I\u2019ll remember him for his tranquility, his love of wine, and for the calm assuredness he brought to his characters. It\u2019s not every lifetime you get to befriend a legend. Forever grateful.\u201d \u2014 via Instagram.<\/p>\n

Christopher Luxon, prime minister of New Zealand<\/p>\n

\u201cSir Sam Neill was one of the greats. He started out when there was barely a film industry in this country to speak of. For more than fifty years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today \u2014 one of our greatest cultural exports.\u201d \u2014 via X.<\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam Neill as Alisdair Stewart in The Piano. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Sharon Lawrence, actor<\/p>\n

\u201cMy condolences and appreciation for the immense joy and mastery Sam Neill brought our industry. Do yourself a favor and find DEAN SPANLEY on a streamer- he\u2019s wonderful and it will soothe someplace in your spirit that needs it now. \u2014 via Instagram.<\/p>\n

Joel Tobeck, actor<\/p>\n

\u201cThis man made me feel like I could fly. Even when I was all over the place in his presence he made it ok. We loved to talk rugby. RIP my old mate. Sam Neill, a true gentleman.\u201d \u2014 via Instagram.<\/p>\n

Rachel Griffiths, actor<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch a shock \u2014 loved by so many \u2014 I\u2019ll be cracking two paddocks tonight,\u201d referring to wine from the actor\u2019s vineyard, via Instagram.<\/p>\n

Kylie Minogue, singer<\/p>\n

\u201cVale Sam,\u201d a Latin term for \u201cfarewell\u201d that\u2019s often used in Australia and New Zealand, via Instagram.<\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam Neill in Possession (1981) (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Toni Collette, actor<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you, dear Sam. You hero. You legend. You sweetheart. Our great friend. You are already missed so very much. Continue in peace wherever you are.\u201d \u2014 via Instagram.<\/p>\n

Lesley-Ann Brandt, actor<\/p>\n

\u201cSending love and condolences to your family. A remarkable man and artist. NZ loses a giant and one of its greatest gifts.\u201d \u2014 via Instagram.<\/p>\n

Kate Mulvany, actor<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the greatest of honours to shout at Sam onscreen and to laugh ourselves silly offscreen. He was truly the most wondrous human. Not was. Still is. Will always be. Such is his incredible legacy of life, art, advocacy and love.\u201d \u2014 via Instagram.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fellow actors and fans of Sir Sam Neill mourned his passing after the actor died Monday. Sir Sam…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,409,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-524500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-movies","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}