Sam Neal is a New Zealand actor, director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Most known for his roles in the films "Jurassic Park", "Hunting for Red October", "Piano" and "Through the Horizon", as well as the series "Sharp Peaks". During his career, he participated in one hundred and thirty full-length and television projects.
Childhood and youth
Sam Neal was born on September 14, 1947 in Om, Northern Ireland. Real name is Nigel John Dermot Neal. Father is a military man, a New Zealander in the third generation, his mother is English. The future actor was born in the United Kingdom and thanks to this he received British citizenship, but he considers himself primarily a New Zealander.
In 1954, the family moved to New Zealand. After graduating from high school, Sam Neal entered the University of Canterbury, where he studied English literature. At the same time, he became interested in theater and decided to try himself as an actor. At the same time, he began to introduce himself as Sam.
Later, in an interview, the actor more than once stated that in childhood he suffered from severe stuttering, which later simply outgrew, but sometimes he still has difficulties with speech.
Carier start
In the early seventies, Sam Neal began acting in short films and television projects. He also worked as a second director on several feature films.
In 1977, the young actor got the main role in the political thriller Roger Spottieswood "Sleeping Dogs". The film was the first film ever made in New Zealand.
First successes
In 1979, Sam Neal starred in the melodrama My Brilliant Career, where the famous actress Judy Davis became his screen partner. In 1981, the actor appeared in the horror film "Omen 3: The Last Battle", which became his first American project.
In the same year, Sam Neal appeared in the horror film "Obsessed" by the famous Polish director Andrzej ulawski. The provocative film caused a lot of controversy and was even banned for rental in the UK, but received positive reviews from critics and later gained cult status.
In subsequent years, Sam Neal continued to work actively at home and abroad, the most notable films with his participation in the late eighties are the historical drama "Scream in the Dark" and the spy thriller "Hunting for Red October".
Also in the filmography of Sam Neal appeared several successful television projects. He starred in the British mini-series Reilly: The King of Spies. For this work, the actor was nominated for the prestigious Golden Globe Award. In 1987, he played the KGB Colonel in the American mini-series America.
International success
The breakthrough for Sam Neal's career was the year 1993. He appeared in one of the main roles in the historical drama Jane Campion's Piano, which won the Golden Palm Branch, the main prize of the Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for an Oscar in several nominations.
The actor also played a major role in the ambitious project of the famous director Steven Spielberg "Jurassic Park." The picture was one of the first blockbusters to use computer graphics. The film showed excellent results at the box office, collecting almost a billion dollars, and laid the foundation for a whole franchise. The Jurassic Park made the leading performers of the real Hollywood stars, to this day you can find memes on the Internet, the basis for which were photos of Sam Neal in the image of Dr. Alan Grant.
In subsequent years, the actor continued to work actively, successfully balancing between independent films and large-budget projects. During this period, among the films of Sam Neal, one can note the film adaptation of The Jungle Book and the sci-fi horror Through the Horizon, which failed at the box office, but subsequently became a cult for fans of the genre.
Also in 1998, the actor played a major role in the mini-series The Great Merlin. In the new century of high-profile projects, Sam Neal almost never appeared in the filmography, except for the triquel of Jurassic Park, where the actor played Alan Grant again, but the continuation of the series did not become as successful as the original.
Also, at the beginning and middle of the two thousandth, Neil appeared in the romantic comedy Wimbledon, the vampire action movie Warriors of the Light, and voiced one of the characters in Zack Snyder's animated film Legends of the Night Watch.
TV work
During this period, the actor began to work actively again on television. He played one of the main characters in the first season of the large-scale historical series The Tudors, and a few years later appeared as the main villain in the crime drama Sharp Peaks from the famous screenwriter Stephen Knight.
Sam Neal also appeared in one of the main roles in the adventure series based on the works of Daniel Defoe "Crusoe". Also in 2009, the actor joined the American drama series "Happy City", which was closed after the first season due to insufficiently high ratings.
Return to the big screen
Throughout all this time, Sam Neal continued to act in feature films, however, successful projects that won a large audience were not on his track record. A kind of comeback for the actor was the adventure comedy directed by Tyke Waititi "Hunt for the Savages."
The film received excellent reviews from critics and was able to raise more than twenty million dollars at the box office with a budget ten times less. After that, Sam Neal worked again with Waititi, appearing in a small role as an actor playing Odin. Neil also played a supporting role in the thriller Passenger, which proved to be excellent at the box office, and voiced one of the characters in the children's film Peter Rabbit.
Missed roles
In the creative biography of Sam Neal, there were several disappointments when he could get roles in successful films, but the creators did not choose him as a result. From the very beginning of his career, he attracted the attention of large Hollywood studios, who began to call the actor for auditions. In his youth, Sam Neal was twice considered the producers of the role of James Bond. The first time he lost the fight for the role of Timothy Dalton, the second - to Pierce Brosnan. In addition, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas considered Neal's candidacy for the role of Indiana Jones, but settled on Harrison Ford.
Also, during his long career, the actor claimed the roles of Hans Gruber in the action movie Die Hard, Sheriff Nottingham in the historical film Robin Hood: The Prince of Thieves, Dr. Otto Octavius in Sam Raimi's blockbuster Spider-Man 2 and Aramis in the film Spider-Man 2 in the iron mask. "
Sam Neal could also become the eighth Doctor Who, but the role of the legendary British character went to another actor.
Personal life
From 1980 to 1989 Neil was in a relationship with Lisa Harrow, the couple has a son Tim. In 1989, the actor married the make-up artist Noriko Watanabe, daughter Elena was born in marriage. In 2017, the couple announced the breakup, Sam is currently meeting with Australian journalist and political columnist Laura Tingle.
In an interview, the actor said that at the age of twenty and a little, a son was born to him and his then-girlfriend, who was given for adoption. Later they found each other and began to maintain a relationship.
Sam Neal owns a wine business in New Zealand, he owns several vineyards and a plant for processing raw materials. He is the owner of the Order of the British Empire for his services in acting.