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It must be disappointing to work on a film, really enjoy yourself and even find yourself pleased with the results, only to be met with a barrage of disappointed comments from critics. That has certainly been the case for Sam Neill, but at least he knows there’s no point in dwelling on a few negative reviews from people he has never met.
The actor, who was born in Northern Ireland before moving to New Zealand at the age of seven, started his career in various successful films made outside of Hollywood, from My Brilliant Career to Possession.
However, as his star power grew, putting him even in the running to play James Bond in the early 1980s, he increasingly found himself working in America, and in 1993, he landed one of his most recognisable roles as Dr Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.
Neill was now an unmistakable star, and he subsequently came to reprise his role in Jurassic Park III, which emerged in 2001, but it wasn’t nearly as lauded as the original. While the film did find significant success at the box office, raking in $368.8million against its $93m budget, critics were quick to mark it out as inferior.
It’s no surprise that it didn’t hold up to Jurassic Park or its sequel, The Lost World, though, because Spielberg stepped down from the director’s chair for this one, instead handing over the reins to Joe Johnston, while Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, and Jim Taylor penned the screenplay. Spielberg wasn’t interested in sticking with the franchise and was instead focusing his attention on projects like Amistad and Saving Private Ryan, evidently making the right decision.
Neill has always been disappointed that people have spoken so harshly about the third instalment in the franchise, telling GQ, “It has its detractors, and I’ve never quite understood that. I mean, I think if it has a fault, it’s that it wraps everything up pretty quickly, but up to that point, I think it’s pretty damn good, actually.”
He added about his feelings regarding his character, saying, “And I was quietly pleased with Alan Grant in it. Grant had become more hard-bitten, if you like, and I liked the progression the character had made. Look, there were people that were unhappy on it, but I had a good time.”
For Neill, the main thing was playing his character without destroying his legacy, for Grant had fast become a movie icon, as well as simply having a good time. Working as an actor is surely a tiring and taxing job, so it must be a blessing to work on a film and walk away with a feeling of enjoyment, above anything else.
He concluded, “I love Joe Johnston, and he did seem stressed a fair bit, but I’m very fond of him. I thought he was great. And Alessandro Nivola was a great ally; we enjoyed each other immensely. So look, you know, I know there were one or two people that were a little malcontent, but I was fine. I was enjoying myself.”
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