The Story of Sam Neill, a Hollywood Star, Who Opened a Farm and Started Naming His Animals After His Actor Friends
Sir Nigel John Dermot Neill who we know as the popular actor, director, and producer Sam Neill, was born in Northern Ireland. Soon his family moved to New Zealand where he grew up and started his career. And later in life, he opened a farm there. Currently, the actor helps abused and neglected animals and entertains himself by naming them after the actors he knows.
At CHEERY, we scrolled down Sam Neill’s Instagram and found the photo of a cow named Helena Bonham Carter. We were also surprised to find creatures that Sam jokingly named after his friends Kylie Minogue and Taika Waititi.
His family and little Nigel moved to New Zealand, the home country of his father, in 1954. There he attended a boarding school where he started calling himself “Sam” because he felt the name Nigel was “a little effete for a New Zealand playground.”
After graduating from school, the future actor went on to study English literature in Canterbury and then moved to Wellington. During his study at the university, he had his first exposure to acting despite the stuttering he had suffered from childhood.
Neil’s first film was The City of No which was released in 1971. To date, he’s starred in a few dozens of movies and TV series, and won a few prestigious awards. You may know San Neill by his roles as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Major Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders.
Currently, Sam lives in the town of Alexandra, in New Zealand, where he owns a winery. It all started in 1993 when he decided to cultivate the first 5 acres of his land. This company still works and acquires new lands, but according to Sam, this is not a very economic business.
The actor is engaged in agriculture because he finds it satisfying and fun, and he often shares his farm adventures on his Instagram.
Sam boasts of his harvest of zucchini and pumpkins which grow big. Sometimes he jokes, “Turn your back for a minute, next thing you know the courgette is a 2-ton truck.”
Sam’s grandchildren also like to join him in his hobby, and the actor says, “Here we shamelessly exploit child labor. In all fairness, they eat more grapes than they pick. Wait, who’s exploiting who here?”
Sam Neill likes to make fun of his colleagues. In 2018, he posted his photo with Mia Wasikowska on Instagram and wished her a happy 69th birthday. It’s fine and all, but the actress turned 29.
But this is not all. The actor has a whole farm where zucchini and grapes grow, and he also has a bunch of animals which he decided to name after movie actors.
“Have you ever had a sheep for a friend?” Sam Neill once wrote on his Instagram. “I was always nicer to Jeff Goldblum the ram than he was to me, to be honest. If I turned my back, he’d sometimes head butt me in the bum. Other than that, he was pretty good company.”
Besides, a bull named Graham Norton wanders around Sam’s farm. And as you’ve probably guessed, he’s the namesake of the popular comedian and presenter. Another calf, which was born on the farm, was named Daisy after Australian actor David Wenham who played Faramir in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Calf Daisy
Apart from “celebrity” bulls, there is also the cow Helena Bonham Carter, which was named after the actress who played Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter film series and the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland. Sam likes to hand-feed her and says that her manners are impeccable.
“We’ve been friends for many years, and I was godfather to all 8 of her calves including Laura Dern,” the actor wrote. In another post of his, he confessed, “Helena Bonham Carter, the cow, trying to kiss me this morning. I don’t blame her. I’d shaved.”
However, some animals bring him a lot of hassle. Rooster Michael Fassbender, for example, can start crowing at 5 a.m. right under Sam’s windows. The actor jokingly says that the rooster takes his responsibilities very seriously, just like his famous namesake.
In Sam Neill’s hen house, there are many other “celebrities.” You can find hen Kate Winslet here who, according to the actor, is a perfect mother because she is so gentle with her chickens.
But another hen named after actress Rose Byrne is quite mischievous. Once she was noticed stealing the pig’s breakfast right under its nose. By the way, this hog is also a celebrity’s namesake: the farm’s owner named him Taika Waititi, after the famous New Zealand film director and comedian.
The actor also looks after a bunch of ducks. One of them is Kylie Minogue who got its name in the honor of the famous singer. According to Sam, however, this bird “doesn’t sing a lot — but you know she’s a duck.”
There is also Charlie Pickering, a duck who turned out to be a girl after all. Sam says that this duck is his old friend. Over age, she’s become sentimental and enjoys cuddling.
Charlie loves to admire her reflection in the pond. Neill says jokingly, “Charlie Pickering, the duck, is probably the poultry narcissus on our farm. But if you were as drop-dead gorgeous as Charlie, you’d be admiring yourself a fair bit too.”
Sam Neill spends a lot of time with his animals. He can easily go to the field and sing a song to his cows and piggies. The actor also likes to show the yoga moves to his followers and informs them that one of the pigs is a real athlete.
“This is the Pig’s turn. He’s more of a yoga guy rather than Pilates, and this excellent stretch he calls ’The cobra.’ My Pilates instructor in Sydney doesn’t stretch as well as The Pig, to be honest,” Sam says.
Part of the farm animals was rescued. For example, Sam once adopted 10 chickens which were held in small cages. The actor was worried that the birds would need some time to adapt to daylight and walk free.
The rescued birds pay their owner back with love. “Bryce Dallas Howard roosts up a tree at my front door. In return for being rescued by us about 6 months ago, she has taken it upon herself to be my guard chicken. An important job,” Sam Neill wrote on his Instagram.
On his Instagram, the actor tries to attract attention to the New Zealand charity organization, SPCA. This organization helps to protect animals who are sick, injured, lost, abused, or abandoned.
“We would like to ask you to help SPCANZ and the work they do care for some 41 thousand abused, neglected animals every year,” Sam Neill says.
Nowadays, Sam Neill continues to act in movies and takes care of his animals on the farm. In July 2022, the farm got a new resident — piglet Bryan whose name was chosen by Sam’s followers. She was named after Australian actor Bryan Brown who played in the movie Gods of Egypt and mini-series The Thorn Birds.
What is the name of your pet? Tell us in the comments below.