Sam Neill is sharing details about an open Hollywood secret: her real name! During an appearance on Tuesday The Kelly Clarkson Show In the episode, the 76-year-old opened up about his decision to use the nickname Sam instead of his given name.
When Clarkson brings up the fact that Neill’s first name isn’t Sam, the New Zealand actor quips dryly, “It’s embarrassing that you know that.”
He explains that his parents named him Nigel, “which gave me a disadvantage from the start.” Although Clarkson says Nigel Neill seems like a strong name, the Jurassic Park star explains that having the name Nigel leads to cruel childhood nicknames, like “Nigel No Friends”.
“When I was 10, my best friend was called Nigel Nut – which is even worse. Nigel Nut and Nigel Neill”, he reminds the audience. “But we liked Westerns and we thought, ‘Let’s not just call ourselves Nigel, let’s have nicknames.’ So I was called Sam and he was called Bill and that was the best decision I ever made.”
“There are no film actors called Nigel Niell, that will never happen,” adds Neill.
Niell – whose full name is Sir Nigel John Dermot “Sam” Neill KNZM OBE – also spoke about his new series, Apples never fall. The actor Stars as Stan Delaney on the Peacock showa secretive and possibly deceitful husband and father who begins to attract the attention of his wife – played by the incomparable Annette Bening – fades away. Apples never fall is adapted from Big little lies It is Nine Perfect Strangers best-selling novel of the same name by writer Liane Moriarty.
The role — and the show in general — is heavily centered on the fictional Delaney family’s commitment to tennis, as Bening, 65, and Neill play former professional tennis players who raised four great athletes who had the skill (but not the drive or desire ) to follow in his parents’ footsteps. Throughout the show, the audience watches Stan become suspicious of his friends, community members, and even his four adult children.
Niell previously told ET that after combating stage 3 T-cell angioimmunoblastic lymphomahe discovered that not only is he lucky to be alive, but that his acting continues to improve with time.
“Listen, I’ve been in remission for two years and I feel great,” he said, adding that a second wind reinvigorated him while your cancer remains under control. “I only get better with age.”
Although Neill said he found the role of Stan exciting to play, he couldn’t be further from his real-life character. Neill found Stan – a gruff “alpha male” type – to be a complicated character and a challenge as an actor.
“Well, he (Stan) is an alpha male, which is normally the kind of person I try to avoid in the world,” Neill noted, adding that if he had his way, women “would be in charge of everything.”
But the actor said it was the wide variety of differences that led him to the job in the first place, as he found it “more challenging and more fun”.
“In a way, I respect Stan Delaney,” he said. “Stan has a depth that I appreciate.”
Filling out the roster is The White Lotus‘ Jake Lacy, Communityin Alison BrieConor Merrigan-Turner, Essie Randles, Georgia Flood, Jeanine Serralles and Dylan Thuraisingham.
Apples never fall is available to stream on Peacock.
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