RIP Sam Neill

[Gingernaut]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/crl1gk55rzet

I first heard of him in Reilly: Ace of Spies and loved The Dish and The Hunt for Red October

Sad news.

RIP Sam. You made fine wine, great films, and popped a few holes in some stuffy Cantab' private school's egos.

You were such a wonderful face for NZ, we were so lucky to have you.

You will be so missed. You meant so much to so many people.

Shocked and saddened to wake up
to this news

One of my very favourite actors.

Oh I’d forgotten that. I saw him in Robbery Under Arms as a young teen and it triggered an abiding interest in bush rangers for me.

RIP Sam.

So handsome and talented, with a beautiful spirit.

He popped up in so many things and was always great. Plus a very sexy looking chap. Will have to watch Jurassic Park again now. RIP Sam

I remember him from Riley Ace of Spies.

Oh this is so sad - he was such a good actor and seemed like a really lovely man. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is one of the best films ever.

My late DF suggested we go to see that and I didn't really want to, didn't think it looked like my sort of movie, but agreed to go with him. Well, how wrong I was. I LOVED it.

Loved him as Mr Gentleman in The Country Girls (even though he was a swine), in My Brilliant Career and Riley Ace of Spies.

I am a kiwi and just devastated.. such a great man, humane, loved animals, spoke about really important stuff.. poverty, climate change. RIP Sam

Very sad news. What a lovely man he was, so beloved by his family and Bryan Brown (his best friend of 40 years). The skits he did during Covid lockdowns were genius.

Well, this is sad. I first remember him in "Dead Calm", but loved him most in "Dean Spanley", a wonderful film.

A wonderful actor and all-round good egg.

I've just seen it on the BBC headlines. Made me gasp in shock. Such a good actor. I'm saddened by this news.

Oh no. Loved him in everything he was in and he seemed like an interesting and intelligent man.

It’s not his best film or one that many people love, but Event Horizon is one of my favourite sci fi films and he managed to bring gravitas and intellect to what could have been a very ordinary film otherwise.

I’m heart broken 💔, he was not only a great actor but a wonderful human being too.

“Reilly Ace of Spies” is etched into my memory as I had a massive teenage crush on Sam Neill. As did my best friend at school so a lot of time was spent talking about the programme. As it was based on a real person/true story, and this was pre-internet, there were lots of articles in the papers about it and you could buy a sort of brochure based on the series with the history, photos of the time, and of course photos of Sam as the character.

i continued to think he was a great actor. More recently i did like him in Peaky Blinders.

RIP.

May Sam rest in peace.
A great actor.
I hadn’t known he was born in Northern Ireland and his real name was Nigel.

In the late 90s, Merlin was just tremendous!
What a sad loss.

I was very sad to wake up to this news, I was watching him in The Twelve just before bed last night. Such a prolific and versatile actor.

I read his memoir recently too and it struck me that he had so many close friendships that had endured for decades. He was obviously a very loved and loving man.

Everything I’ve read or seen about him suggests he was a real gentleman and just an all round lovely bloke. He was a fantastic screen actor and all the great films he was in were great because he was in them. A true star.

Such sad news.

Is 2026 the new 2016?!

Blimey, there seems to be a lot of celebrity deaths at the moment.

Very sad. R.I.P. xx

This is so sad and unexpected. Had a huge crush on him as a girl until I saw him as Damien in The Omen (shiver).

This has upset me so much. Him and Anthony Head in the same year, while so many fucking idiots are still breathing and making the world worse. 2026 can fuck off at this point.

PS. I'm grieving my Gran, whom we're slowly and rapidly losing, so I'm probably not rational, but I don't care. It pisses me off.