Sam Neill’s Memoir a Real Charmer

Over almost 50 years, since his big-screen feature debut in Landfall, made in New Zealand, the beloved New Zealand actor who became Sir Sam last year, has brought a charm to many of his roles, Tom Ryan writes for The Sydney Morning Herald.

That said, though, there is another side to his screen persona, Ryan writes. From very early on, the now 75-year-old Neill was willing to take risks as an actor. Something he’s managed to do without subverting the amiable, laidback image that he presents to the world in both his performances and his public appearances, and which is also immediately evident in this “accidental” memoir.

He found himself writing it last year while he was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for blood cancer. And it’s clear from what follows that he has his mortality on his mind. A heady subject even for someone who describes himself, wrongly, as “shallow as a puddle”.

Original article by Tom Ryan, The Sydney Morning Herald, March 27, 2023.