Did I Ever Tell You This?

by Sam Neill

In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion.

By his own account, his career has been a series of unpredictable turns of fortune. Born in 1947 in Northern Ireland, he emigrated to New Zealand at the age of seven. His family settled in Dunedin on the South Island, but young Sam was sent away to boarding school in Christchurch, where he was hopeless at sports and discovered he enjoyed acting.

But how did you become an actor in New Zealand in the 1960 and 1970s where there was no film industry? After university he made documentary films while also appearing in occasional amateur productions of Shakespeare. In 1977 he took the lead in Sleeping Dogs, the first feature made in New Zealand in more than a decade, a project that led to a major role in Gillian Armstrong’s celebrated My Brilliant Career.

And after that Sam Neill found his way, sometimes by accident, into his own brilliant career. He has worked around the world, an actor who has moved effortlessly from blockbuster to art house to TV, from Dr Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park movies to The Piano and Peaky Blinders.

Did I Ever Tell You This? is a joy to read, a marvellous and often very funny book, the work of a natural storyteller who is a superb observer of other people, and who writes with love and warmth about his family. It is also his account of his life outside film, especially in Central Otago where he established Two Paddocks, his vineyard famous for its pinot noir.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Audiobook, Autobiography, Biography Memoir, Book Club

Audible Audio

First published March 21, 2023

About the author

Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill was a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both independent films and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile actors of his generation.

Born in Northern Ireland to an English mother and a New Zealand father, Neill moved to Christchurch with his family in 1954. He first achieved recognition with his appearance in the film Sleeping Dogs (1977), which he followed with leading roles in My Brilliant Career (1979), Omen III: The Final Conflict, Possession (both 1981), Attack Force Z (1982), Evil Angels (also known as A Cry in the Dark) (1988), Dead Calm (1989), Death in Brunswick (1990), The Hunt For Red October (1990), The Piano (1993), In the Mouth of Madness (1994), and Event Horizon (1997). He came to international prominence as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993), a role he reprised in Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022).

Outside of film, Neill has appeared in numerous television series in guest and recurring roles, including Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983), The Simpsons (1994), The Tudors (2007), Crusoe (2008–2010), Happy Town (2010), Alcatraz (2012), and Rick and Morty (2019). He also starred as the eponymous character Merlin in Merlin (1998) and Merlin's Apprentice (2006), and as Major Chester Campbell in the first two series of Peaky Blinders (2013–2014). He has presented and narrated several documentaries.

Neill was the recipient of the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Longford Lyell Award, the New Zealand Film Award, and the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actor. He also has three Golden Globe and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.He won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor at the 2023 Logies. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Edgarr Alien Pooh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Neill, the great New Zealand/Australian actor. I feel some out there may haven't heard of him. Yet if I mention Jurassic Park, Event Horizon, Evil Angels, In the Mouth of Madness, The Hunt for Red October, The Omen 3, Dead Calm, Bicentennial Man, Thor, and The Dish are all movies that Sam has appeared in, you may be surprised. And these are just the tip of the iceberg.

I don't say this lightly but I feel this is possibly the best Autobiography I have ever read. Far from the standard review of his works and facts piled upon facts, this book reads like you are sitting and having a long discussion with the man himself. A discussion full of laughs, stories of his ancestry, disappointments and so much more. An insight into his other loves like winemaking, horse riding, and indigenous rites.

Sam Neill has had a very long and distinguished career, living all over the world and filming in even more locations. Starring in many roles, and bit parts in even more so naturally he has a long list of famous contacts and he name-drops them all but not in a negative narcissistic way. Sam talks about his admiration and friendship for most of those he has worked with and is not afraid to speak of those he felt difficult.

Sam says he has recovered and is well now but this account of his life was all written during his treatment for cancer, the second time he has had it. The last chapter announces that his prognosis is clear but this is far from a pity tale. A very upbeat book, a great read, and a lot of memories, both for Sam and us along the way

[Lesley Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

UPDATE: This review is of the first edition. The paperback has some new stories and new epilogue. I don’t know if there was also any re-editing … And, of course, since this review we have lost this lovely man.

I love Sam Neill so this book was especially disappointing. A good start with the usual: the early years, the lure of acting … but then it collapses into a set of unstructured and not terribly insightful or memorable reminiscences (apart from having a ‘go’ at a prominent Australian actor and one of his American colleagues).
It’s not entirely Sam’s fault. What was the publisher thinking? Don’t they invest in editing any more?
Perhaps they figured they didn’t need to put the effort in when his name would sell it anyway … if so, that’s cynical and not fair on author or audience.
It’s telling that the best title he/they could come up with was, Did I ever tell you this?.

[Ace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so great, you're awesome, Sam. Keep being you.

[Meags · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I have such soft spot for this man and his work and I was really looking forward to reading his life story.

The entire memoir feels like a sharing of stories, big and small, with old friends, and in that sense, the title itself is very apt indeed. The slight problem with that being, other than for Sam himself and the people of note in his stories, many of the tales being told here didn’t really hold any interest to me as an outside party.

As a fan, I was more interested in hearing stories from film sets and about his life in Hollywood, and, thankfully, there was plenty of that too. From Hollywood blockbusters to indie productions in Australia or New Zealand, there were heaps of great little insights and experiences being shared by Sam throughout. There were even some very juicy behind the scenes stories that will have me watching certain films and shows now through a different lens, that’s for sure.

But, for the most part, a lot of the stories Sam tells here held little interest to me. Many tales of random friends and acquaintances that simply had me feeling indifferent, not knowing a thing about the people in question. In this way, a lot of the memoir and the way it was told, felt very meandering, losing my interest on more than one occasion.

However, my perception of Sam as a person and as a professional actor still remains a very positive one, with his own words only bolstering my resolve that he’s a down-to-earth human, a great actor and a good man. And although much of his own story felt, perhaps, unnecessary for the consumption of a larger audience, I’d imagine, if you were Sam himself or one of his nearest and dearest, that this memoir will now be a very treasured self-reflection of a full life, well lived.

[Clinton (almost catching up) · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Acting is, in part, telling stories.”

A life full of stories, written in the shadow of death. Humble, funny and grateful. And very Kiwi.

Sam Neill's Did I Ever Tell You This? feels like a rambling yarn, mostly anecdotes and digressions, but I find it charming, like having a beer with a mate, chatting about our lives. His memoir is rough and unpolished, but it felt right to me given he wrote what amused him in his life, what he remembered, with no aim except to get it down in the possibly short time he had left. It reads as if it tumbled out of him, one story reminding him of another, and that was just fine - I enjoy writing that meanders with frequent side-tracks, like Twain’s Life on the Mississippi. Sam is not a word magician like Twain but he has the same love of stories told well.

Some of Sam’s stories involve famous folk, but they didn’t feel like name dropping. They are the same amusing and interesting stories anyone accumulates in a whole life, but, given he is a famous actor in over 150 films, Sam’s stories sometimes feature famous people.

“Food, wine, friends, laughter, that is living”
- The brutal hierarchy of an awful boarding school,
- Sam loves cars, but then he buys a “wanker’s car”,
- Whale sex,
- Ireland, New Zealand, London and Australia (and everywhere he filmed),
- A funny constipation story (?!),
- Great films made on great catering and bad films made on bad catering,
- Acting tips? “Ask a good actor,”
- Actors, music, art and wine, flatting, gaffes and parenting,
- “Daddy where are the dinosaurs?”
- Lying on the floor of an empty Sistine Chapel communing with Michelangelo for hours,
- Awkward fan boy moments with celebrities,
- Music suggestions: Don McGlashan’s Bathe in the River in two versions,
- His buildings, land, vineyards and animals,
- Helena Bonham Carter, one of Neill’s cows,
- Big Tree in the desert,
- When scattering ashes goes wrong,
- “Some people you miss forever.”

The audiobook read by Sam was both heart warming and heart breaking. You felt his warmth and generosity, but it was tough to hear his voice so soon after his death. Several times you could hear Sam on the verge of tears with one memory or another.

Sam has made many fine films, but my favourites, some of the best films ever, are The Piano, Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Sweet Country.

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Did I ever tell you this?” No, Sir Neill, you never told me about that one time you prepared for your yearly colonoscopy by taking laxatives the day before, only for you to get locked out of your home and thus, your bathroom, while, “at the same time, the pain in [your] gut [was] telling [you] with absolute certainty, that [you were] going to explode, right then and there.” 🦕🧍🏼‍♂️💨

I’m not mean-spirited enough to draw a comparison between this one anecdote of Sir Neill’s and his entire autobiography, but in the spirit of this and other similar examples, I can’t help but feel as if my low rating isn’t anything but justified.

This bowel movement anecdote takes up an entire chapter!! of what I had initially hoped to be an entirely different memoir. Its title couldn’t be more fitting, however, because instead of sharing the memories and experiences of the work he has done on his most well-known projects (many, many of us will have come to know and love Sam Neill from the dinosaur films, you know-), the good Sir seems to have spent the entire writing process asking an imaginary audience the question: “Did I ever tell you this?”

No, Sam, you didn’t tell me about the time you tried to fit in at your new school in a new country with a weird-sounding name (Nigel), only to mention that you remember telling your mother that you were teased about your dick, waking “in hospital, having been circumcised.” But “anyway”, Sam continues after talking about his penis, “I’m often curious about the backgrounds of my fellow actors. Many parents had parents in the diplomatic corps....” 👁️👄👁️

It's not enough that there was next to nothing in this about his days on the set of Jurassic Park or - God beware - Jurassic World, or his friendship with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, and only a little bit about his role as Campbell in Peaky Blinders. No, instead there were THREE entirely separate chapters exclusively about Sir Neill’s bowel movements and his not being able to take a shit-

“There was a period in the late afternoon when having nothing left to lose, I went full Catholic and was praying to the Virgin herself: ‘Please, release me, Mary, Mother of God. Have mercy on this poor sinner, I swear, dear Mother Mary, whatever it was, I will never do it again.’ And then, at 5.13 pm, finally, a result. I was relieved of some great and heavy burdens […] These immense beasts, which had been a good week in gestation, left me with extreme reluctance and inflicted as much injury on the way out as possible. One particular enormous gnarly bastard sat on the bottom of the bowl, glaring balefully up at me…” 💩

- several longer paragraphs on whale sex and whale sperm, the most random anecdotes about old friends, NZ politicians from the 90s, and chapters upon chapters on his going from not knowing anything about wine to owning a vineyard.

Except for the recounting of his childhood, his early acting career and experiences, the progress of his cancer treatment and how it affected him, there was so little of value in here for the casual fan and admirer of his career (probably even the hardcore fans) that I am surprised Sam Neill’s first and presumably last (because how many memoirs does one write in one’s life?) autobiography is more of a collection of, among other things, faecal, but mainly trivial matters, rather than anything of substance. I’d be surprised if people got a lot out of this because if nothing else, “Did I Ever Tell You This?” comes across as having been written mainly for the man himself, his family, and his friends.

“But Sam is under no obligation to tell the same Jurassic World and Peaky Blinders stories he’s already told 1000 times again!”

Yeah, I hear you, but I’m not picking up a famous person’s biography to learn almost only exclusively about their most random, obscure anecdotes and which actors they have named their sheep after. 🐑🐏

Especially because I have already read a good number of autobiographies, I am more than unwilling to cut Dr. Alan Park some slack and rate this book any higher. Not only do I question the importance of including not one, not two, but three chapters on Sir Neill’s shit, but this memoir could not be a more unstructured, absurdly edited, out-of-order collection of stories if it tried.

When he writes about not fitting in as a child because of, among other things, his accent, Neil suddenly segues into talking about being a supporter of the EU and proudly European, while stressing how much he disliked Brexit.

After dedicating at least one chapter to a dear friend and their untimely death, he suddenly shifts focus, writing “but back to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’”

He goes from talking about living with his girlfriend at the time and their flat to saying “It was the sort of place where you knew all your friends’ business” to talking about how a couple they were friends with had trouble conceiving to how poorly their dog took it once the baby was there to how the dog was then prescribed valium?? I mean, Sir???

I don’t mind the occasional segue. Our lives seldom progress linearly, and I recognise the necessity of sometimes either fast forwarding or rewinding to make the story you’re telling more interesting, to build excitement, to make sure the audience knows where you are coming from to understand whatever point you want to make but this was nothing if not out of pocket.

He goes from talking about how the ashes that were his great-aunt Hermione were accidentally baked into a cake to how a cousin of his mum’s and said cousin’s writing partner spent most of their lives together (his mum denied them being lesbians), only for the partner’s grave to get accidentally blown to bits when they tried to enlarge her grave to fit the remains of his mum’s cousin. WILD. The majority of this doesn’t read like an autobiography, it reads like a stream-of-consciousness a lá Virginia Wolf, but you know, with feces. 💀

There are bits in here that are genuinely interesting, like when he talks about his childhood spent in Ireland and his teenage years spent in New Zealand, his fight with cancer, his boarding school days, the fact that before he got his acting break, he worked at a film company creating documentaries, but those bits are genuinely far and few between.

It’s a pity Sam Neill, with his self-deprecating, only occasionally funny, humour but big personality and interesting, long-spanning career, chooses to honour his legacy in a way that is sure to leave no lasting impact whatsoever with whoever ends up reading what looks to be his definitive memoir.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took turns with Simon to read this out loud in honor of Sam Neill who died recently. It rapidly became our favourite way to end each evening and we loved every minute we spent reading about Sam's life.

He wrote with warmth and a generous spirit and we felt drawn into his presence each time we read his words. The stories are quite lovely being both interesting and engaging. According to Sam, "so many of the stories in this book are about people who enriched my life immeasurably. Or, occasionally, not."

There was a lot of humour to enjoy in many of Sam's stories. One of my favourites is a story about his mum. Sam worried about his mum's habit of picking up hitchhikers even into old age, "this frail old thing, just as generous as ever. I asked her if this was wise.
She said, 'Oh yes, darling, of course it is. In fact, I usually get them to drive.'
I said, 'What? Mum, are you serious?'
She said, without a blink, 'Well, yes. I mean, what can they do to me if they've got their hands on the wheel?'
I sighed and left it at that."

Favourite quotes:

"Books took me away from the pain of being at boarding school: Arthur Ransome, C. S. Lewis, Robert Louis Stevenson."

On self-reflection: "I looked properly at my true self. Without any judgment. And I saw me. I told myself this one thing. You are unique. There is only one you. And that is you there, right here, for better or worse. Except that there is no better, and there is no worse. It's just you." He felt truly alive at that moment.

I loved reading about the therapy he developed during the isolation of COVID lockdown:
"It's simple. If I'm feeling glum, I make myself smile. For no good reason, just smile. You can feel something happening physically to you, as well as mentally. Endorphins kicking in. Just those muscles on your dial trigger good emotions."

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

When actor Sam Neil was told he had cancer he decided to wtite sbout his life & this fascinating book is the result.
I knew nothing about Sam Neil's diagnosis when I stsrted this book, so it was quite a shock to learn of it here. Thankfully he is still with us & let's hope he remains so for many years to come.
Although I bought this book hoping for plenty of stories about Neil's acting career a large part of it was about his life away from films & these areas of his life were the most interesting. I won't give away anything here, as it was a joy to discover things abut his life that were completely unknown to me.
There are some brilliantly funny stories throuhgout the book, many of them unrelated to his films. It was wonderful to buy his book for one reason, only to find it so enjoyable in ways I could never have imagined.

[nettebuecherkiste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich habe ehrlich gesagt gar nicht so viele Filme oder Serien mit Sam Neill gesehen. Den ersten Jurassic Park vor 100 Jahren im Kino, außerdem "Das Piano" (großartig) und in "Die Tudors" spielte er Kardinal Wolsey. Auch wusste ich nicht, dass er eigentlich Neuseeländer war, ich hatte ihn für einen Australier gehalten. Aber irgendwo muss ich im letzten Jahr aufgeschnappt haben, dass seine Autobiografie ganz interessant ist, und ich habe sie mir auf die Wunschliste gesetzt. Ich höre gerne von den Autor*innen selbst gelesene Autobiografien. Am 13. Juli 2026 ist Sam Neill leider verstorben, was mich, wie das oft beim Tod von Celebrities der Fall ist, melancholisch machte und dazu veranlasste, mir sein Hörbuch vorzunehmen.

Ein bisschen chaotisch ist sie, die Autobiografie. Sie beginnt erwartungsgemäß mit der Kindheit und wird auch grob chronologisch weitergeführt, Neill springt jedoch häufig zwischen verschiedenen Zeiträumen hin und her. Gestört hat mich das nicht. Viele interessante und lustig Anekdoten hat er drauf, zunächst aus seiner Jugend und seiner Familie zwischen Nordirland und Neuseeland, später aus dem Filmbusiness. Manchmal sind sie auch eher belanglos oder unangenehm; über die, äh, Abenteuer seines Enddarms hätte ich nicht unbedingt Bescheid wissen müssen. Viel Raum nehmen solche Geschichten jedoch nicht ein und ich sehe im Gegensatz zu manchen anderen Rezensent*innen keinen Anlass, mich darüber aufzuregen und das Buch schlecht zu bewerten. Was ich auch anmerken muss, ist das doch recht massive Name Dropping, was aber andererseits angesichts der langen Filmkarriere des Schauspielers zu erwarten ist. Über die meisten seiner Kolleg*innen äußert er sich äußerst wohlwollend, traut sich jedoch durchaus auch, unangenehme Zeitgenossen auch als solche zu beschreiben (Harvey Keitel und William Hurt scheinen eher schwierige Charaktere zu sein bzw. gewesen zu sein). Was mir sehr gefallen hat, waren Neills Ausführungen darüber, wie wichtig Musik für ihn war. Ich habe einige Tipps meiner Playlist "Testen" hinzugefügt, sowohl klassische als auch "moderne" Musik. (Ich muss aber gestehen, dass ich bei den Beach Boys noch etwas skeptisch bin, er betont aber, dass er zunächst auch nicht geglaubt hatte, damit was anfangen zu können.) Was vielleicht nicht für alle interessant ist, ist sein Liebe zum Wein und die Geschichten über sein eigenes Weingut, mich hat das jedoch durchaus angesprochen (allerdings scheint es einigermaßen unmöglich zu sein, eine Flasche seiner Weine zu ergattern). Was mir nicht gefallen hat, ist seine Einstellung zur Jagd. Abgesehen davon ist er jedoch ein großer Befürworter von Umweltschutz und biologischem Anbau und auch sonst ordnete er sich eindeutig dem linken Spektrum zu, was meiner eigenen Einstellung entspricht und ich sehr sympathisch finde.

Sehr traurig hat mich gestimmt, dass Neill nach dem Erfolg seiner letzten Chemotherapie so positiv und zuversichtlich in die Zukunft geschaut hat, er schließlich aber an einer Lungenentzündung, verstorben ist. Insgesamt ist "Did I Ever Tell You This" eine sympathische Autobiografie, die man sicher nicht gelesen haben muss, mir jedoch gut gefallen hat. Und ich werde mir nun einige Filme und Serien anschauen bzw. noch mal anschauen müssen: u. a. "Das Piano", auch mal die anderen Jurassic Park-Filme, an denen er beteiligt war, und unbedingt "Peaky Blinders".

[Ian Laird · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam Neill is well known as Dr Alan Grant in three Jurassic Park movies, Sean Connery’s ill-fated fellow submariner Captain Borodin (‘I will live in Montana. And I will marry a round American woman and raise rabbits, and she will cook them for me’), in The Hunt for Red October, Damien in Omen 3 and a clutch of antipodean characters in My Brilliant Career (with Judy Davis), Dead Calm (Nicole Kidman) Evil Angels (Meryl Streep), The Piano (Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel), and latterly the grumpy old man in Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

Sam Neill is also a very likeable human being, which is a considerable advantage when reading his engaging and funny memoir. He is somebody who doesn’t seem to generate a bad word from anyone. He appears friendly on set and generous to his co-stars, often in awe of the talent he is working with, especially the actresses. He is quite modest about his own talent without being falsely so.

Neill has serious interests outside making films, notably producing pinot noir in Otago and building houses for himself. To be parochial, he has also spent an awful lot of time in Australia, like his compatriots Russell Crowe and good friend John Clarke, the great satirist. And Sam’s best mate is Bryan Brown, Aussie icon.

He is not so much a name dropper as someone who has spent decades mixing with famous people, from Sting to Princess Diana, as well as his fellow performers from Sir John Gielgud to Peter O’Toole to Meryl Streep.

Sam Neill has also been battling extremely serious blood cancer in recent times, specifically; stage three angioimmunoblastic T-Cell lymphoma. He has been in death’s corridor if not at death’s door but is now in remission after several courses of invasive treatments including some very experimental ones. Hence this memoir is ‘somewhat flung together. I write in haste.’(p2). And it shows, rumbling along at a fair pace more or less chronologically, but with wild diversions back and forth as he thinks of them. It is the charm of the book but makes it quite chaotic. There are lots of good stories, with hardly an unkind word for anyone, although he is none too complementary about right–wing politicians, notably the divisive Piggy Muldoon.

However, he does not disguise his antipathy towards Judy Davis and Harvey Keitel or his disenchantment with erstwhile Australian PM Bob Hawke, apparently conspicuously rude at a dinner Neill attended. I should say that Hawke is dead, so in no position to sue and both Davis and Keitel have reputations for being difficult. Almost everyone else he has worked with, Neill adores.

Overall an amiable outpouring from a man who thought he was dying but happily, especially for all his friends, he isn’t (still going as at posting date).

[Lady Alexandrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Neill is a legend.

Watching him on screen is always so much fun. Reading his autobiography was a great experience.

It was funny and made me laugh, but at times was very touching and made me cry.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

An audiobook. A fantastic read.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did I Ever Tell You This is a memoir by New Zealand actor, Sir Sam Neill. When an adverse diagnosis from an oncologist crystallizes his awareness of his own mortality, Sam Neill decides to write about his life. This memoir is a collection of loosely-connected anecdotes, vignettes and musings that mostly deal with people he has encountered in his life and career. Any account of his serious romantic relationships is either diplomatically avoided, or lightly touched upon, and his children get scant mentions only when they form part of a story.

Neill doesn’t hold back from being self-deprecating, (perhaps excessively so?) and quite a bit of what he candidly relates is embarrassing, but it does make for plenty of humour. And he freely admits to lacking depth, illustrated by the generally superficial quality of the stories. Much of what he writes is interesting, although some of it only to those in the business, be that acting, wine-making or fishing, thus having the potential to bore a wider readership.

Several of the tales are sad and moving, often leading to last lines of anecdotes in the vein of “I never saw her/him again”, “I miss her to this day”, “I am still in shock”, “I never had the chance to….” and “I’m not sure I’ve ever fully recovered”. It’s not capital L literature, but it is easily readable, and Neill does an excellent job narrating his own work for the audio version.

While the narrative does sort of vaguely follow Sam’s life: childhood, youth, education, career, passion, it does jump back and forth quite a lot. There are black and white photos throughout the text, but the quality of some of these isn’t great on the matt print pages and they might have served better as part of the glossy pages of colour photos. All in all, quite entertaining, if a bit lengthy.

[Text Publishing]

The following book reviews have been shared by Text Publishing – publisher of Did I Ever Tell You This?

‘Sam Neill is one of my favourite people in the world, and a great entertainer. Did I Ever Tell You This? is full of warm, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking stories. It will make you feel like you have just sat down under a tree to chat with a dear friend.’
Jimmy Barnes

‘Fabulously entertaining, insanely readable.’
Stephen Fry

‘Just wonderful, so funny and charming and sharp. Sam Neill’s lively, lovely book made me laugh out loud.’
Meryl Streep

‘Sam Neill is a legend, and in this magnificent book he shares his stories of family, friends and film with delicious irreverence, compassion and grace.’
Laura Dern

‘A brilliant and eye-opening look into Neill’s life…deeply personal yet highly relatable. You’ll both laugh and cry with Neill, feeling like you’re on his journey with him at each turn of the page. This is a heartwarming, wise and highly recommended read.’
Better Reading

‘[A] charming, seemingly honest and frequently self-deprecating trawl through the life and career of one of New Zealand’s finest and certainly most popular acting exports.’
ArtsHub

‘I finished this memoir feeling like I had been at a raucous dinner party, seated next to him of course, where tales are flung from one end of the earth to the other and the evening finishes with a lovely Two Paddocks pinot noir. And a relief that he is in remission. Read this memoir because it turns out that Sam Neill is an excellent dinner party guest.’
Readings

‘Rather than the star who makes heads turn in the street, he comes across as an ordinary bloke, unpretentious, down-to-earth, a bit confounded by the track he’s found himself on over the years, but still quite pleased about it.’
SMH

‘The book, which has a delicious, winding stair structure, finishes buoyant with hope and is all the richer for the terminal framing…The book radiates drama and comical digression in equal measure…Did I Ever Tell You This? is a lovely book, bewitchingly meandering. This is that rarest of things, a memoir by an actor without vanity.’
Peter Craven, Monthly

‘In all his films Neill seems to naturally inhabit his parts, as he does in this memoir that reminds you of a brilliant dinner conversation where pretension has been left at the door and a glass of pinot noir (from Neill’s Two Paddocks vineyard, maybe) placed in your hand.’
Herald Sun

‘Really, really, really funny. There are some cracking stories. I read it in one sitting!’
Lorraine Kelly

‘I love this book, it's like spending time with you. A real treat. Fantastic.’
Graham Norton

‘Charming. A transparently lovely man, with a life hectically well lived.’
Mail on Sunday

‘A delight to read.’
Manning Community News

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic series of tangents from a very humble and down to earth New Zealander. Love him. Love this book.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like Sam Neill’s been keeping me company for the last few weeks as I dip in and out of his audiobook. As he says, it’s not a memoir but a collection of thoughts and anecdotes that together paint a picture of a funny, irreverent and (he might disagree) talented man. As he writes he’s undergoing cancer treatment and he’s honest and circumspect about his life and how it could well be limited. There’s lots of namedropping but it seems warranted, there’s also lots of self-deprecating humour and bits about his Two Paddocks winery, art and architecture that I found interesting. Overall, a very enjoyable listen.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Neill delightfully narrates his memoir. I seem to have come across a few docos of Sam over time. There was one set on his NZ vineyard. He seems to appear on my youtube feed a bit too.
He's worked on a huge number of productions over his career and has many great friendships.
His demeanour is so similar to my Dad's and my Kiwi Dad-in-law, listening to him is like listening to a member of my own family, they had different experiences but told their experiences in a similar way.
He went through the wringer with his cancer treatment but thankfully comes through the other end, sorry not sorry if that's a plot spoiler.
One of his last stories is about playing the main character in Restoration. I've never seen the film but I do have the book on my shelf. This might be just the excuse to pick it up, rather than all my library loans, that aren't overdue.... yet.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam Neill seems like a nice bloke, but there's not much of a narrative to his memoirs. It never recovers from the saggy middle. Better suited as an audio-only release, given its rambling, conversational tone (a pity that I could choose which format to consume - and clearly I chose poorly).

[ryan wilkey]

DR ALAN GRANT!

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author. I love his voice.

[Ron Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not an autobiography, nor is it a memoir, as the title indicates, and as Mr Neill confirms in his interviews, it is the reminiscing’s of a popular and talented actor who has made countless films and met countless actors and directors and others involved in international film making.

Many Goodreads’ commenters (I feel the word reviewer a misnomer for many) and others comment about him being “a nice guy.” I often find it interesting how well known (again I hate that word ‘famous’) people are able to perpetuate an image of being “a nice guy.” I try to disregard ‘niceness’ when thinking about people who I admire because of their talents. To me it is their talent that interests me. I am sure there are people on this planet who might regard me as ‘nice’ while there are others who place me in the dead shit category. So, Sam Neill has successfully created this image of being Mr Nice Guy. I wonder if Russel Crowe and Mel Gibson would be given that moniker?

If I ever bumped into Sam Neill I’d love to say, “How ya going Nigel?” To understand this, you have to read the book.

As Neill has said in many interviews, he had been diagnosed with Stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma — a blood cancer. While facing treatment and recover he started writing about his life.

“I’m crook. Possibly dying. I have time to burn, and time to think. Writing gets my mind off things.”

The structure of the book is best described a spiral. He admits that it was “flung together” but in a manner that the reader can enjoy and respond. It is as if he has opened a bottle of Two Paddocks Pinot Noir and he is sitting back in a one-way conversation with the reader. Like all conversations it jumps around, doing tangents, reversals, and skips forward. He sort of starts as a child born in Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, migrates to Christchurch New Zealand, attends boarding school, that he hates, and then launches into his acting career.

I was impressed in the way he named friends, male and female, from that time. His words disclose a love and appreciation of these people three score years later.

Being an internationally acclaimed actor Neill does drop a name or two or ten: Barbara Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Lou Harris, Michael Caine, Sir John Gielgud, Meryl Streep, Bill Nye, Dennis Potter, William Hurt, Wim Wenders, Max Von Sydow, Olivia Hussey, James Mason, Tom Jones, Herbie Hancock, Sting, Harvey Keitel, Sean Connery, Eddie Murphy, Steven Spielberg, Princess Di, Hugh Grant, Stephen Fry, Tim Roth, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise

Australian/NZ acquaintances/friends Wendy Hughes, Jenny Morris, Ernie Dingo, Hugo Weaving, Germaine Greer, Margaret Fink, Jimmy Barnes, Billy Thorpe, Jane Campion, Tim Flynn, Billy Thorpe, John Clarke, Nicole Kidman, Peter Lehmann.

He relates a humours story involving John Howard. He gives two interesting accounts of his relationship with Brian Brown and Judy Davis. He confirms my view of Germaine Greer.

Some have accused Neill of naming dropping, a charge of which he is totally innocent. He mentions them as people he worked with. Most were decent people, and many became his friends, some didn’t. He is neither cruel nor nasty, but he does relate stories about some of these “rich and famous” that he saw them as jerks.

This led into a discussion of celebrityhood. Neill argues that he and most of his fellow actors are professionals who try to do a decent job and then live a life as normal as possible. He does tell of his encounters with “stars” who treated him with disdain. As I read, I wondered if there was a hierarchy of importance with actors. As with most successful individuals I always think luck plays a major role in their success. Neill mentions that with many actors scoring a particular role led to much success.

My Sam Neill favourites are: My Brilliant Career, Dead Calm, Riley Ace of Spies, Evil Angels, The Dish, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Old School, The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook.

The fact that he never truly left New Zealand, other than to work, showed that he had a deep love of his country and now with his Two Paddocks winery that is where he will spend his last years. He is somewhat of a renaissance man of the left and he is a friend for life.

I enjoyed Sam Neill’s book. It is an unstructured, rambling, personal account of a talented, somewhat humble man. I do hope that the big C stays away for some time yet.

[Eve Dangerfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook and it was wonderful. I cried, I laughed, it was a pure perfect pleasure to spend time with Mr Neill.

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this memoir, and it started off well, however, it quickly went downhill. there was no structure to the book at all, with random anecdotes inserted all over the place with no relevance to the chapters. The narrative fluctuates from one period in time to another and it was impossible to orient myself as the reader in the story. Added to that - the constant name dropping of other actors and several disparaging comments left me with a sour taste.

[Rachael McDiarmid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed this memoir. I realised as I was reading this how many movies of his I’ve watched! He’s had a fascinating life and career and met and befriended some amazing people. His cancer diagnosis and treatment shared throughout the book makes him very real. So glad he came out the other side…

[Mitch Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feel bad giving this three stars, but I do feel it’s accurate. As a memoir, there’s no real significant event that seems to justify its existence (other than a cancer diagnosis that frames his life story). It is simply Sam Neill recounting various stories and tales from his life. It’s wholesome, it’s light reading, it’s fascinating to hear behind the scenes stories and reflections of the many great films of his career. I want to have a cup of tea or a glass of wine with Sam Neill and just chat about his life. What a legend. God I love Sam Neill.

[lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I refuse to think too hard about this review. I am a huge Sam Neill fan, and this book was wonderful. 5 stars, easy.

My favorite part of this book was learning he listened to Genesis to wind himself down from filming Possession- that just cracks me up. He is really a remarkable story teller and observer of people. I am so impressed by someone simultaneously struggling with cancer and writing such a warm and totally ego free memoir. Sam Neill is a treasure!!

[Jennifer]

Good heavens, what an absolute snooze fest. I was hoping to see the beautiful side of Sam. I suppose it peeks out in small bits, but this is largely a strange telling of celebrity brushes and random anecdotes from his personal life, all of which lacked depth and resonance and are told with a strange, disconnected flatness and odd, almost… bravado? I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s like he wanted to impress the reader… but why? Many stories just seemed to go nowhere and were told for no discernible reason. I’m left with the distinct feeling he needed a challenging editor—someone to push him to define his purpose and steer him toward structure and coherence.

I’ve been forcing myself to read this for over a week because I just adore the guy, but I’m bailing with an hour to go. Perhaps I’ll get back to it when I’m sufficiently bored, but I’m rarely, if ever, that bored. I often find I’m disappointed when I read celebrity memoirs. I guess that part is on me for continuing to read them. Maybe I’m just disillusioned by those I’ve read lately.

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable light read where Sam writes about his life and work and his recent battle with lymphoma. It’s mostly anecdote after anecdote with some smiles and laughs but for me it became a bit repetitive particularly if I hadn’t seen the film he was talking about. (I have to admit I’ve never seen Jurassic Park! My favourite Sam Neill movies would probably be The Piano, and The Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Tv show characters, the awful major in Peaky Blinders and as Cardinal Wolsey in The Tudors). He comes across as you’d imagine him to be, a friendly easygoing type.

[Tena Edlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable listen. It felt a little scattered, from the stream-of-consciousness way the chapters were set up, but Sam Neill made it clear at the beginning that he was writing the book that way. He mentioned many people in the New Zealand/Australia/UK acting worlds that I don't know, but I knew enough to enjoy the book. It was especially fun to hear stories about the films and actors I did know because my husband and I are both big fans of Sam Neill's work (well, aside from The Piano, and that's no fault of his). Additionally, if anyone can figure out how to watch The Dish, I want to know! It used to be on Netflix but isn't now. It's on Amazon Prime, but it's not available in our area, whatever that means. He made that movie sound so good, that I really must see it!!!

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Updated review after relistening to this following Sam’s recent death. His loss made this a very poignant read. He talks a lot about death and dying, as he was writing this at the time of his cancer diagnosis. I found myself tearing up on several occasions. It was lovely to listen to this again. I recommend it thoroughly.

With Sam as the narrator, this was a delight. A rambling tale of snippets from his life, told with warmth, humour and tinges of sadness. I suspect reading it on the page would have been more challenging as it does wander around without a clear structure.