From madman to wildman: Sam Neill’s five best characters
Sam Neill has spent more than 40 years bringing characters to life.
From Sleeping Dogs’ reluctant revolutionary to Jurassic Park’s taciturn palaeontologist and Peter Rabbit’s cantankerous Mr McGregor, the Northern Irelandborn but Kiwi-raised actor has mesmerised, compelled and enchanted in equal measure.
Stuff trawled through his lengthy feature film history to come up with our five favourite performances.
Michael Chamberlain (A Cry In The Dark, 1988)
Fred Schepisi’s dramatisation of the fallout from the disappearance of nine-week-old Azaria Chamberlain might have provided another opportunity for Meryl Streep to showcase her ability with accents, but it was Neill’s understated performance as Lindy’s husband Michael that gave the film its heart. Many critics thought Streep and Neill perfectly matched, although only the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts saw fit to recognise his efforts come awards time.
Cptn John Ingram (Dead Calm, 1989)
Haunted by the death of his son, Neill’s Royal Navy officer decides a trip on a yacht to the middle of the Pacific Ocean is exactly what the doctor ordered for him and his much younger wife (Nicole Kidman).
But what he hasn’t reckoned on is encountering Billy Zane’s somewhat shifty drifter. While the other two try to outcrazy one another, our Sam does a heroic job of making his character credible while stuck alone on a schooner as the waters start to rise.
Carl ‘‘Cookie’’ Fitzgerald (Death In Brunswick, 1990)
It might have been an Australian movie, but two Kiwis were the undoubted scene-stealers of this pitch black comedy about a downon-his-luck cook who finds love and accidental murder when he starts working at a Greek restaurant.
The scenes involving Neill’s hapless Carl and John Clarke as his gravedigging mate Dave make you wonder way casting directors didn’t put them together more often.
John Trent (In The Mouth Of Madness, 1995)
While many will cite his hellish businessman Damien Thorn in The Omen III as the height of Neill’s horror-infused career, he was far more impressive when he teamed up with The Thing’s John Carpenter for this Lovercraftian tale. Neill played an insurance investigator who discovers that the impact a horror writer’s books have on his fans is more than inspirational.
Hec Faulkner (Hunt For The Wilderpeople, 2016)
Taika Waititi’s surprise blockbusting adaptation of Barry Crump’s Wild Pork and Watercress reminded Kiwi audiences of Neill’s penchant for deadpan comedy and introduced him to a whole new generation of moviegoers. As the reluctant ‘‘Uncle’’ of juvenile delinquent Ricky Baker, Neill delivered one of the most memorable, mature, New Zealandaccented characters ever to grace a cinema screen.