3 hours ago
3
Sam Neill, who died yesterday at the age of 78, was a brilliantly accomplished and versatile actor. Whatever the genre, whatever the setting, Neill delivered just what his character required. Anything Neill was in was the better for his screen presence and, as these 10 standout performances make clear, his best work was exceptional.
My Brilliant Career (1979)
Arriving from New Zealand, Neill’s breakthrough performance was in Gillian Armstrong’s landmark Australian feature. The 1890s-set feminist drama was a showcase for Judy Davis as aspiring author Sybylla Melvyn but it needed the chemistry via Neill’s suitor, Harry Beecham, to galvanise her decisions to favour career over marriage. Neill’s Harry is wildly handsome and accomplished but it’s also clear that there are limits to what he will allow Sybylla to do. It was an early indication of Neill’s feel for emotional nuance. ABC iview and Netflix.
Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983)
Written by Troy Kennedy Martin, one of the crucial voices in British television, this 12-part series dramatised the real-life exploits of Sidney Reilly, a British spy from the late 19th century, until his 1925 execution by Russia’s Bolshevik regime. It’s a period espionage thriller – on a limited budget – and Neill made for a dashing hero. But both Martin and Neill emphasised Reilly’s ruthless dedication to his work clear. Neill rightly made the character’s cruelty a defining quality. Some scenes available on YouTube.
Evil Angels (1988)
There are two powerhouse performances in Fred Schepisi’s drama about the most famous case in Australian legal history. Meryl Streep is immense as Lindy Chamberlain, the mother accused of murdering her nine-week-old daughter Azaria, but Neill is her equal as husband Michael, a Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor who comes to question his very faith in God as the police and public turn on the grieving couple. Neill’s scene where Michael testifies in court is wrenching. Available to rent on Apple+ and Amazon Prime Video.
Dead Calm (1989)
Gravitas on the screen came naturally to Neill. What mattered was that he used it as a starting point. In Philip Noyce’s ocean-bound thriller, where Neill and Nicole Kidman’s grieving couple rescue Billy Zane’s boundless sociopath from a sinking boat only to realise they’re his next victims, Neill’s John Ingram is a Royal Australian Navy officer whose authority has deserted him. John’s panic feels like a turning point, a fight to survive depicted without heroic cliche. ABC iview and HBO Max
Death in Brunswick (1991)
Neill is effortlessly funny in this Australian black comedy, playing the leather jacket-wearing Carl Fitzgerald, a hygiene-challenged cook who finds himself in the middle of Mediterranean gang war when he becomes involved with a waitress (Zoe Carides) at the dodgy club where he works. Every effort Carl makes to improve his situation worsens it, naturally, which allows for the sublime Kiwi pairing of Neill and John Clarke as Carl’s friend, Dave. ABC iview and Amazon Prime Video.
The Piano (1993)
Neill is not the actor you first notice in Jane Campion’s masterpiece, where Holly Hunter’s mute Scotswoman, Ada, arrives in rugged 19th-century New Zealand. But as Alisdair Stewart, the settler who marries Ada but cannot possess her, Neill is compelling. Alisdair’s decency slips away in this ravishing tale as Ada becomes involved with their neighbour, Baines (Harvey Keitel). Neill gives Alisdair a brooding, malignant jealousy, which drives the film towards its violent reckoning. Unavailable.
Jurassic Park (1993)
For his blockbuster about revived dinosaurs running amok, director Steven Spielberg was using pioneering computer-generated imagery to change what was possible on the cinema screen. What he needed was actors who could convey the wonder of bearing witnessing to that, which makes Neill’s palaeontologist, Alan Grant, essential. One of the most clipped scenes from the movie is Neill reacting to the first sighting of the prehistoric herd. It’s a simple reaction shot but you see a life being irrevocably altered. Streaming on Netflix, Binge, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+.
Event Horizon (1997)
Horror movies where Neill’s character goes insane are a prominent part of his CV. There are the punishing Possession (1981), the Lovecraftian lore of In the Mouth of Madness (1994), and this science-fiction gore-fest where a research crew board a long-missing spaceship near Jupiter in 2047 and everything goes haywire. “Where we’re going we won’t need eyes to see,” promises Neill’s Australian scientist Billy Weir, and the character delivers on that. Note the flag patch on Weir’s uniform – Neill requested the Aboriginal flag replace the Union Jack to reflect a future Australia. Available to rent on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
There are Sam Neill roles that on paper sound generic, such as this eccentric Taika Waititi coming-of-age comedy where Neill plays a grumpy old farmer, Hector Faulkner, who eventually bonds with his unlikely foster child, Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison). But once you see the film you cannot imagine anyone else playing the part. Through comic mishaps and police pursuit, Neill gently strips away Uncle Hec’s curmudgeonly exterior to give the movie immense heart. SBS On Demand
Sweet Country (2017)
Filmmaker Warwick Thornton considered Neill the only choice for a crucial supporting role in his acclaimed 1920s outback western. In the story of an Indigenous stockman, Sam Kelly (Hamilton Morris), who has to go on the run following horrifying racist mistreatment, Neill plays a pastor, Fred Smith. In a violent colonial landscape Fred is the film’s moral centre. Neill portrays him not just as a decent figure but as someone slowly realising that his empathy cannot overcome a destructive system. ABC iview and SBS On Demand.
Want more TV? We’ve got you.
- Newsletter: Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.
- July streaming guide: All the exciting new shows to watch this month.
- Louis CK returns: Nine years after his big scandal, the popular comedian is back on streaming. Is his new special any good?
- Tour de France: Caleb Ewan tells us what makes the iconic race so special.
- Best (and worst) TV finales: We ranked some of the most iconic final episodes – and no, Breaking Bad didn’t top the list.
- Video: Deputy TV editor Meg Watson on the shows she recommends watching right now (below).
