As announced by his family In a social media post this morningActing legend Sam Neill has died at the age of 78. Of the growing pile of celebrity deaths in 2026, this one seems to be the saddest: Like Jurassic ParkThe weary, safari-hat-wearing adventurer-paleontologist, Dr. Alan Grant, was a cornerstone of millennial nostalgia. That’s the way real movie heads liked them possession, pianoAnd event horizon. More broadly, he seemed like a great guy – his public appearances radiated rare, sustained positivity and charm. Who can’t love a man who has spent his Making wine and taking care of farm animals in the autumn years Named after his Hollywood friends? (A cow named Helena Bonham Carter. A bull named Graham Norton. Michael Fassbender and Jeff Goldblum – a rooster and a ram.)
Most memorably, Neill played two of cinema’s greatest fathers, both bitter bullies who come to love the children who are forced upon them. In Jurassic ParkHe’s the aforementioned Grant, who’s tasked with looking after a pair of terrified teenagers when all hell breaks loose on Dinosaur Island. And a few decades later, he’s back to grumpy dad mode hunting for wild people As “Uncle” Hector, now sporting a bushy gray beard as a reclusive woodsman, becomes lost in the woods with his traumatized foster son.
In Jurassic ParkIt’s already been made abundantly clear that Grant hates children: one of the first scenes shows him gleefully terrorizing a boy with fossilized Velociraptor claws; When he later arrives at the titular dino resort, he tries everything he can to defeat dinosaur lover Tim (Joseph Mazzello), who idolizes him. Then everything falls apart, the 65 million year old beasts go on the run, and she is forced to take care of Tim and his always frightened sister Lex (Ariana Richards). He’s the last guy you would have picked for this job – and yet, by the end, when the kids are hiding under his arms in their rescue helicopter, it’s clear that no one else could have looked after them better.
It is Neal’s innate softness that breaks through, suggesting Grant’s hidden paternal instincts that arise from the constant threat of becoming lunch. In one scene, they hide together in tall trees, and are visited by benevolent, long-necked brachiosaurs; They join together by feeding giant leaves to the creatures. Grant may not want to be a father, but he soon realizes that he will be a great father.
Nile’s Hector goes on a similar journey wild onesHis early indifference gave way to paternal care. His wife, Bella (Rima Te Waiata) takes in Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison), a frequent runaway who bounces around in the New Zealand foster system; After Bella dies, Ricky runs into the bushes, pursued by Hector, and the two get lost in the woods, soon becoming involved in the search for the news-grabber. Here, the Nile is harsher and colder than outside; But once again, he discovers that he really likes the boy, leading to a touching bond between the two.
This is a trope that many movies and shows have adopted over the years (for an obvious recent example, think of Joel). the last of us). But no one did it better or more beautifully than Sam Neill.
This article was originally published in British GQ.
