In Memoriam: Sam Neill

In Memoriam: Sam Neill

A fond farewell to the man who made us all believe that dinosaurs were real.

We were sad to learn this morning of actor Sam Neill’s sudden passing last night. Neill, of course, became a fixture of pop culture in 1993 when he played the role of Jurassic Park’s primary point-of-view character, the quick-witted paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant. That in turn gave him the somewhat uncommon distinction of being a real-life actor who appeared as the lead of a Limited Run release (as the intrepid playable hero of several titles in the Jurassic Park Collection).

Of course, Neill’s legacy goes far beyond his appearances as Dr. Grant. As an actor, he could portray a cunning villain, a dashing hero, or a disarming everyman. It’s that latter skill that elevated his most famous roles, including that of Dr. Grant. Social media has been flooded with fond tributes to Neill today, and more than a few people have pointed to his iconic first sighting of Jurassic Park’s dinosaurs as the single moment that sells the entire premise of the movie. You believe that dinosaurs live again because of how effectively he sells the idea that he is absolutely out of his mind at the sight of them. His small physical acting choices and expressions in that moment convey profound, dumbfounded disbelief. When Neill clumsily grasps Laura Dern’s head and turns it ’round to share the sight of those dinosaurs with her, we are all Ellie Sadler in that moment.

Although Neill excelled as a leading man, he also had an unparalleled ability to step back into supporting roles and serve the larger story with equal skill. Consider his role in The Hunt for Red October a few years before Jurassic Park made him a superstar: Captain Borodin, the Red October’s second-in-command, could have been nothing more than a hollow tool for creating cheap pathos; his two key scenes involve expressing his longing to experience American culture, then dying tragically before getting to realize those dreams. Instead, Neill turned Borodin into an earnest, thoughtful man whose devotion to his mentor Captain Ramius lends credibility to the notion that a crew of dedicated, patriotic sailors would willingly join Ramius in his audacious act of treason.

By all accounts, Neill had a talent for bringing such a grounded sense of everyday humanity to his characters because he himself never stopped being down-to-earth himself. Despite his fame, awards, and celebrity, Neill earned a reputation from fans and peers alike for always being kind, approachable, and appreciative. In recent years, the world had the chance to enjoy a dose of Neill’s pure, unfiltered point of view through social media, where he developed a habit of posting messages of good-natured positivity as well as regaling followers with tales of his adventures raising chickens in retirement. He also advocated for unions and indigenous rights! In a world that bombards us with terrible headlines on a daily basis, Neill made life a little brighter for millions of people in small ways, and he will be missed.