Sam Neill

Neill studied at the University of Canterbury and worked initially as a documentary filmmaker in New Zealand before moving into acting, gradually building an international career through British and Australian film and television across the 1970s and 80s.

The reluctant paleontologist whose hat, flare and slowly-removed sunglasses anchored the dinosaur blockbuster in something human, Spielberg reportedly cast him partly because of his everyman warmth in the miniseries Reilly, Ace of Spies, wanting a lead who felt like a genuine scientist rather than an action star.

His character's arc from dinosaur-obsessed skeptic of children to protective father figure became the emotional throughline audiences remember alongside the film's groundbreaking effects, and the role introduced him to a global blockbuster audience well beyond his earlier, more art-house-oriented career.