# Sam Neill

Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both dramas 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 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), Evil Angels (also known as A Cry in the Dark) (1988), Dead Calm (1989), The Hunt For Red October (1990), The Piano (1993), and In the Mouth of Madness (1994). He came to international prominence as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993), reprising the role 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 titular 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 is 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.

## Early life

Nigel John Dermot Neill was born in Omagh on 14 September 1947, the son of English mother Priscilla Beatrice (née Ingham) and New Zealand father Dermot Neill. Consequently he has three documented nationalities for New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom. His great-grandfather Percival "Percy" Neill had left Belfast for Australia, joining a firm of merchants in Melbourne. Four years later, in 1863, he moved to New Zealand and settled in Dunedin. He was the son of a wine merchant who imported wine from France. At the time of Neill's birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland, serving as an officer with the Royal Irish Fusiliers. His father's family owned Neill and Co. (later part of the listed hospitality group Wilson Neill).
In 1954, the Neill family moved to New Zealand and settled in the Cashmere suburb of Christchurch. He attended Cashmere Primary School and Medbury School, a private prep school. After a year, his parents and younger sister Juliet moved south to his father's home city of Dunedin. They lived at Macandrew Bay, where the children could roam free in the holidays. He first took to calling himself "Sam" at school because there were several other students named Nigel, and because he felt the name Nigel was "a little effete for ... a New Zealand playground". From 1961, he attended the Anglican boys' boarding and day secondary school Christ's College in Christchurch. He went on to study at the University of Canterbury but was uncertain about a career, deciding not to follow his father into the army or the family firm. He considered law, but wasted one year when he failed all four law units.
Neill was in several plays, such as playing Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Ngaio Marsh for the Canterbury University Drama Society. He acted in a production of Marat/Sade by Mervyn Thompson, and when another actor dropped out of a Wellington season, Neill replaced him as Jacques Roux. The play was staged at Downstage Theatre. He had "the time of [his] life" and saw that the arts and drama were "part of the fabric of the city" unlike in Christchurch or Dunedin. He transferred from Canterbury to Victoria University of Wellington to finish his Bachelor of Arts with a philosophy unit, and passed the "logic" paper with some last-minute coaching by John Clarke.
Neill played Macbeth in a university production directed by Phillip Mann, then joined Downstage as a professional paid actor for $25 per week, plus food from the kitchen left over from the meal served to the audience before the show. In 2004, on the Australian talk show Enough Rope, interviewer Andrew Denton briefly touched on the topic of Neill's stuttering. He recalled how deeply it had affected him in his life and, as a result, he often found himself "hoping that people wouldn't talk to [him]" so he would not have to answer them. He also stated, "I kind of outgrew it [but] you can still detect me as a stammerer."

## Career
### New Zealand

Neill's first film was a New Zealand television film The City of No (1971). He followed it with a short, The Water Cycle (1972) and the television film Hunt's Duffer (1973). Neill wrote and directed a film for the New Zealand National Film Unit, Telephone Etiquette (1974). He also appeared in Landfall (1975).
Neill's breakthrough performance in New Zealand was the film Sleeping Dogs (1977), the first local film to be widely screened overseas.

### Australia

Neill went to Australia where he had a guest role on the TV show The Sullivans. He was the romantic male lead in My Brilliant Career (1979), opposite Judy Davis, which was a big international success.
He made some Australian films that were less widely seen: The Journalist (1979), Just Out of Reach (1979) and Attack Force Z (1981), and appeared in television productions such as Young Ramsay and Lucinda Brayford.

### International career

In 1981, he won his first big international role, as Damien Thorn, son of the devil, in Omen III: The Final Conflict; also in that year, he played an outstanding main role in Andrzej Żuławski's cult film Possession.
The 1982 film of Ivanhoe made Neill a local celebrity in Sweden, where it has been aired on SVT every New Years Day for 40 years.
He was one of the leading candidates to succeed Roger Moore in the role of James Bond, but lost out to Timothy Dalton. Among his many Australian roles is playing Michael Chamberlain in Evil Angels (1988) (released as A Cry in the Dark outside Australia and New Zealand), a film about the case of Azaria Chamberlain.
Neill has played heroes and occasionally villains in a succession of film and television dramas and comedies. In the UK, he won early fame and was Golden Globe nominated after portraying real-life spy, Sidney Reilly, in the mini-series Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983). An early American starring role was in 1987's Amerika, playing a senior KGB officer leading the occupation and division of a defeated United States. His leading and co-starring roles in films include the thriller Dead Calm (1989), the two-part historical epic La Révolution française (1989) (as Marquis de Lafayette), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Death in Brunswick (1990) (in which he was re-teamed with old friend John Clarke), Jurassic Park (1993), Sirens (1994), The Jungle Book (1994), John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness (1995), Event Horizon (1997), Bicentennial Man (1999), the comedy The Dish (2000), and Jurassic Park III (2001).
Neill has occasionally acted in New Zealand films, including The Piano (1993), Perfect Strangers (2003), Under the Mountain (2009), and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). He returned to directing in 1995 with the documentary Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill (1995) which he wrote and directed with Judy Rymer.
In 1993, he co-starred with Anne Archer in Question of Faith, an independent drama based on a true story about one woman's fight to beat cancer and have a baby. In 2000, he provided the voice of Sam Sawnoff in The Magic Pudding. In 2001, he hosted and narrated a documentary series for the BBC entitled Space (Hyperspace in the United States).
He portrayed the eponymous wizard in Merlin (1998), a miniseries based on the legends of King Arthur. He reprised his role in the sequel, Merlin's Apprentice (2006).
Neill starred in the historical drama The Tudors, playing Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. "I have to say I really enjoyed making The Tudors", he said, "It was six months with a character that I found immensely intriguing, with a cast that I liked very much and with a story I found very compelling. It has elements that are hard to beat: revenge and betrayal, lust and treason, all the things that make for good stories."
He acted in the short-lived Fox TV series Alcatraz (2012) as Emerson Hauser. He played the role of Otto Luger in the fantasy adventure film The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box (2014). He had a role in the BBC series Peaky Blinders, set in post-World War I Birmingham. He played the role of Chief Inspector Chester Campbell, a sadistic corrupt policeman, who came to clean up the town on Churchill's orders. In the 2015 BBC TV miniseries And Then There Were None, based on Agatha Christie's thriller, he played the role of General MacArthur.
In 2016, he starred in the New Zealand-made film, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Taika Waititi, as well as the ITV miniseries Tutankhamun. In 2017, Neill appeared in a scene in Waititi's fantasy sequel Thor: Ragnarok, in which he portrays an actor playing Odin (as depicted by Anthony Hopkins), alongside Luke Hemsworth and Matt Damon as actors playing Thor and Loki, respectively. He portrays the same actor in Thor: Love and Thunder in 2022.
In 2018, he portrayed Mr. McGregor and also provided the voice of Tommy Brock, in Peter Rabbit. In 2019, he was cast for the role of Denis Goldberg in Escape from Pretoria; however, the role was subsequently recast with Ian Hart. In late 2019, he was announced to reprise his character of Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic World Dominion, which released in July 2022.
In 2022, Neill appeared in the Foxtel legal drama The Twelve as Brett Colby. When the series was renewed for series 2, Neill would reprise the role of Colby being the only member of the original season one cast to do so. On 16 September 2024, it was announced that The Twelve had been renewed for a third season and Neill would be returning as Colby. On 6 December 2024, Neill was announced as a nominee for the 2025 AACTA awards for his role on The Twelve.
On 21 June 2024, Neill was named in the cast for the Netflix drama Untamed.

## Personal life

In 1980, Neill met actress Lisa Harrow while filming Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981) and they have a son. He married make-up artist Noriko Watanabe in 1989 and they have one daughter together. He also adopted Watanabe's daughter from her first marriage. He separated from Watanabe in 2017, and dated Australian political journalist Laura Tingle from 2018 to 2021.
In his early twenties, Neill fathered a son who was placed for adoption. They reunited in 1994.
Neill lives in Alexandra, New Zealand, South Island, and owns a winery called Two Paddocks, consisting of a vineyard at Gibbston and two near Alexandra, all in the Central Otago wine region. His avocation is running Two Paddocks. "I'd like the vineyard to support me but I'm afraid it is the other way round. It is not a very economic business", said Neill, "It is a ridiculously time- and money-consuming business. I would not do it if it was not so satisfying and fun, and it gets me pissed once in a while." He enjoys sharing his exploits on the farm through social media. He names his farm animals after film-industry colleagues.
Neill supports the New Zealand Labour Party and the Australian Labor Party. He has been a member of the Equity New Zealand trade union since 1979.
In March 2023, Neill revealed that he had been undergoing chemotherapy since March 2022 after being diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, following swollen glands that were first noticed during publicity for Jurassic World Dominion. He stated that the cancer is in remission, but he will require monthly chemotherapy for the rest of his life.
Neill used his year away from work while undergoing his cancer treatment to write a memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, published in March 2023.

## Honours, awards and nominations

Neill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services as an actor. In the 2007 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM). When knighthoods were returned to the New Zealand royal honours system in 2009, those with DCNZM or higher honours were given the option of converting them into knighthoods. Neill chose not to do this, saying the title of Sir was "just far too grand, by far". However, in June 2022, he accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Neill was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Canterbury in 2002. Neill was awarded the 2019 Equity New Zealand Lifetime achievement award, celebrating his distinguished performance career, as well as his leadership and mentoring towards others in the acting industry. In 2020, he received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon Award, limited to 20 living people.

### Awards and nominations

| Year | Organizations | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
| 1985 | Golden Globes Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Reilly: Ace of Spies | Nominated |
| 1989 | AACTA Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Evil Angels / A Cry in the Dark | Won |
| 1989 | AFI - Australian Film Institute | Best Actor in a Lead Role | Evil Angels / A Cry in the Dark | Won |
| 1991 | AFI - Australian Film Institute | Best Actor in a Lead Role | Death in Brunswick | Nominated |
| 1992 | Golden Globes Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | One Against the Wind | Nominated |
| 1993 | AFI - Australian Film Institute | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | The Piano | Nominated |
| 1993 | American Television Awards | Best Actor in a Miniseries | Family Pictures | Nominated |
| 1993 | Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films | Best Supporting Actor | Memoirs of an Invisible Man | Nominated |
| 1998 | Online Film & Television Awards | Best Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Merlin | Nominated |
| 1998 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Merlin | Nominated |
| 1998 | Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Best Actor | Event Horizon | Nominated |
| 1999 | Golden Globes Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Merlin | Nominated |
| 1999 | Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | Favourite Supporting Actor - Drama/Romance | The Horse Whisperer | Nominated |
| 2000 | AFI - Australian Film Institute | Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role | My Mother Frank | Nominated |
| 2001 | Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival | Best Actor | The Zookeeper | Won |
| 2001 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Actor - Male | The Dish | Nominated |
| 2004 | AFI - Australian Film Institute | Best Telefeature or Mini-Series | The Brush-Off | Nominated |
| 2004 | AFI - Australian Film Institute | Best Direction in Television | The Brush-Off | Nominated |
| 2004 | AFI - Australian Film Institute | Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Drama or Comedy | Jessica | Nominated |
| 2005 | Logie Awards | TV Week Silver Logie For Most Outstanding Actor | Jessica | Won |
| 2005 | Logie Awards | Most Outstanding Mini-Series / Telemovie | The Brush-Off | Nominated |
| 2005 | New Zealand Screen Awards | Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | Perfect Strangers | Nominated |
| 2005 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Little Fish | Nominated |
| 2006 | Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films | Best Supporting Actor on Television | The Triangle | Nominated |
| 2008 | Gemini Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series | The Tudors | Nominated |
| 2008 | Monte-Carlo TV Festival | Outstanding Actor - Drama Series | The Tudors | Nominated |
| 2009 | New Zealand Film and TV Awards / Qantas Film and Television Awards | Best Lead Actor in a Feature Film | Dean Spanley | Nominated |
| 2010 | New Zealand Film and TV Awards / Qantas Film and Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film | Under the Mountain | Nominated |
| 2010 | New Zealand Screen Awards | Best New Zealand Export | | Won |
| 2012 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Actor - Supporting Role | The Hunter | Nominated |
| 2012 | AACTA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The Hunter | Nominated |
| 2016 | AACTA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The Daughter | Nominated |
| 2016 | Logie Awards | Most Outstanding Actor | House of Hancock | Nominated |
| 2016 | Australian Movie Convention | AIMC Lifetime Achievement Award | | Won |
| 2016 | Film Club's The Lost Weekend Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Hunt for the Wilderpeople | Won |
| 2017 | New Zealand Film and TV Awards / Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Hunt for the Wilderpeople | Won |
| 2017 | NCFCA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Hunt for the Wilderpeople | Nominated |
| 2017 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Narrator | New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands | Nominated |
| 2017 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Actor - Supporting Role | The Daughter | Nominated |
| 2017 | AFCA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | The Daughter | Won |
| 2019 | AFCA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Sweet Country | Won |
| 2019 | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Actor - Supporting Role | Sweet Country | Nominated |
| 2019 | New Zealand Television Awards - Huawei Mate30 Pro | Best Presenter: Entertainment | Uncharted / The Pacific: In The Wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill | Won |
| 2019 | AACTA Awards | Longford Lyell Award | | Won |
| 2019 | The Equity Ensemble Awards | Equity New Zealand Lifetime Achievement Award | | Won |
| 2019 | Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival | Grand Honorary Award | | Won |
| 2020 | AFCA Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Ride Like a Girl | Nominated |
| 2020 | AACTA Awards | Best Lead Actor | Rams | Nominated |
| 2022 | AACTA Awards | Best Lead Actor In A Drama | The Twelve | Nominated |
| 2023 | Logie Awards | Most Outstanding Actor | The Twelve | Nominated |
| 2023 | Logie Awards | TV Week Silver Logie For Most Popular Actor | The Twelve | Won |
| 2025 | AACTA Awards | Best Lead Actor In A Drama | The Twelve | Nominated |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1975 | Landfall | Eric | |
| 1975 | Ashes | Priest | |
| 1977 | Sleeping Dogs | Smith | |
| 1979 | Just Out of Reach | Mike | |
| 1979 | The Journalist | Rex | |
| 1979 | My Brilliant Career | Harry Beecham | |
| 1981 | Omen III: The Final Conflict | Damien Thorn | |
| 1981 | Possession | Mark | |
| 1981 | From a Far Country: Pope John Paul II | Marian | |
| 1982 | Attack Force Z | Sergeant D. J. (Danny) Costello | |
| 1982 | Enigma | Dimitri Vasilikov | |
| 1984 | The Blood of Others | Bergman | |
| 1984 | The Country Girls | Mr Gentleman | |
| 1985 | Robbery Under Arms | Captain Starlight | |
| 1985 | Plenty | Lazar | |
| 1986 | For Love Alone | James Quick | |
| 1987 | The Umbrella Woman | Neville Gifford | |
| 1988 | Leap of Faith | Oscar Ogg | Also known as Question of Faith |
| 1988 | Evil Angels | Michael Chamberlain | Won – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Also known as A Cry in the Dark |
| 1989 | Dead Calm | John Ingram | |
| 1989 | La Révolution française | Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette | |
| 1990 | The Hunt for Red October | First Officer Vasily Borodin | |
| 1990 | Shadow of China | TV reporter | Credited as John Dermot |
| 1991 | Death in Brunswick | Carl 'Cookie' Fitzgerald | Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role |
| 1991 | Until the End of the World | Eugene Fitzpatrick | |
| 1992 | Memoirs of an Invisible Man | David Jenkins | Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 1992 | Hostage | John Rennie | |
| 1993 | The Piano | Alisdair Stewart | Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role |
| 1993 | Jurassic Park | Dr. Alan Grant | |
| 1993 | Sirens | Norman Lindsay | |
| 1994 | Country Life | Dr. Max Askey | |
| 1994 | The Jungle Book | Colonel Geofferey Brydon | |
| 1994 | In the Mouth of Madness | John Trent | |
| 1995 | Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill | Narrator | |
| 1995 | Restoration | King Charles II | |
| 1996 | Children of the Revolution | Nine | |
| 1996 | Victory | Mr. Jones | |
| 1997 | Event Horizon | Dr. William Weir | |
| 1997 | Snow White: A Tale of Terror | Lord Fredrick Hoffman | |
| 1998 | The Horse Whisperer | Robert MacLean | |
| 1998 | Sweet Revenge | Henry Bell | |
| 1999 | Molokai: The Story of Father Damien | Walter Murray Gibson | |
| 1999 | Bicentennial Man | 'Sir' Richard Martin | |
| 2000 | My Mother Frank | Professor Mortlock | Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role |
| 2000 | The Dish | Cliff Buxton | |
| 2000 | The Magic Pudding | Sam Sawnoff | Voice |
| 2001 | Jurassic Park III | Dr. Alan Grant | |
| 2001 | The Zookeeper | Ludovic | Won – Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival Award for Best Actor |
| 2002 | Dirty Deeds | Ray | |
| 2002 | Leunig Animated | Narrator | |
| 2003 | Perfect Strangers | The Man | |
| 2004 | Yes | Anthony | |
| 2004 | Wimbledon | Dennis Bradbury | |
| 2005 | Gallipoli | Narrator | Voice |
| 2005 | Little Fish | The Jockey | |
| 2006 | Irresistible | Craig | |
| 2007 | Angel | Théo | |
| 2008 | Dean Spanley | Dean Spanley | |
| 2008 | Skin | Abraham Laing | |
| 2009 | In Her Skin | Mr. Reid | |
| 2009 | Iron Road | Alfred Nichol | |
| 2009 | Under the Mountain | Mr. Jones | |
| 2009 | Daybreakers | Charles Bromley | |
| 2010 | Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole | Allomere | Voice |
| 2011 | The Dragon Pearl | Chris Chase | |
| 2011 | The Hunter | Jack Mindy | Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role |
| 2012 | The Vow | Bill Thornton | |
| 2013 | Escape Plan | Dr. Kyrie | |
| 2013 | The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box | Otto Luger | |
| 2014 | United Passions | João Havelange | |
| 2014 | A Long Way Down | Minister Crichton | Jess's father |
| 2015 | Backtrack | Duncan Stewart | |
| 2015 | The Daughter | Walter Finch | Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role |
| 2016 | Hunt for the Wilderpeople | Uncle Hec | |
| 2016 | Tommy's Honour | Alexander Boothby | |
| 2017 | MindGamers | Kreutz | |
| 2017 | Sweet Country | Fred Smith | |
| 2017 | Thor: Ragnarok | Odin Actor | Cameo |
| 2018 | The Commuter | Captain David Hawthorne | |
| 2018 | Peter Rabbit | Mr. McGregor Tommy Brock (voice) | |
| 2019 | Palm Beach | Leo | |
| 2019 | Blackbird | Paul | |
| 2019 | Ride Like a Girl | Paddy Payne | |
| 2019 | Take Home Pay | Wedding Planner | Cameo |
| 2020 | Rams | Colin | |
| 2021 | Daisy Quokka: World's Scariest Animal | Frankie Scales | Voice |
| 2021 | Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway | Tommy Brock | Voice |
| 2022 | Jurassic World Dominion | Dr. Alan Grant | |
| 2022 | Thor: Love and Thunder | Odin Actor | |
| 2023 | The Portable Door | Dennis Tanner | |
| 2023 | Assassin Club | Jonathan Caldwell | |
| 2023 | Scarygirl | Dr. Maybee | |
| 2023 | Bring Him to Me | Frank McCarthy | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1979–1980 | The Sullivans | Ben Dawson | Episodes 519–558 |
| 1980 | Lucinda Brayford | Tony Duff | Four-part miniseries ABC Television, Melbourne Australia |
| 1982 | Ivanhoe | Brian de Bois-Guilbert | Television film |
| 1983 | Reilly, Ace of Spies | Sidney Reilly | 12 episodes Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film |
| 1985 | Kane & Abel | William Lowell Kane | Miniseries |
| 1986 | Strong Medicine | Vince Lord | Television film |
| 1987 | Amerika | Colonel Andrei Denisov | Miniseries |
| 1991 | Fever | Eliott | Television film |
| 1991 | One Against the Wind | Sergeant James Liggett | Television film Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film |
| 1993 | Family Pictures | David Eberlin | Television film |
| 1993 | The Rainbow Warrior | Alan Galbraith | Television film |
| 1994 | The Simpsons | Molloy | Voice, episode: "Homer the Vigilante" |
| 1996 | In Cold Blood | Agent Alvin Dewey | Miniseries |
| 1998 | Merlin | Merlin | Miniseries Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film |
| 1998 | The Games | Citytrans CEO | Episode: "Transport" |
| 2000 | Sally Hemings: An American Scandal | Thomas Jefferson | Miniseries |
| 2001 | Submerged | Lt. Cmdr. Charles B. 'Swede' Momsen | Television film |
| 2002 | Doctor Zhivago | Victor Komarovsky | Miniseries |
| 2002 | Framed | Eddie Meyers | Television film |
| 2004 | Stiff | Lionel Merricks | Television film |
| 2004 | Jessica | Richard Runche | Miniseries Logie Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama |
| 2005 | The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant | Governor Arthur Phillip | Miniseries |
| 2005 | To the Ends of the Earth | Mr. Prettiman | Miniseries |
| 2005 | The Triangle | Eric Benerall | Miniseries Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television |
| 2006 | Merlin's Apprentice | Merlin | Miniseries |
| 2006 | Two Twisted | Mick | Episode: "Von Stauffenberg's Stamp" |
| 2007 | The Tudors | Cardinal Thomas Wolsey | 10 episodes Nominated – Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama Series Nominated – Monte-Carlo Television Festival Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series |
| 2008–2010 | Crusoe | Jeremiah Blackthorn | 14 episodes |
| 2009 | Happy Town | Merritt Grieves | 8 episodes |
| 2010 | Rake | Dr. Bruce Chandler | Episode: "R v Chandler" |
| 2011 | Ice | Anthony Kavanagh | Miniseries |
| 2012 | Alcatraz | Emerson Hauser | 13 episodes |
| 2013 | Harry | Jim "Stocks" Stockton | Miniseries |
| 2013–2014 | Peaky Blinders | Major Chester Campbell | 12 episodes |
| 2014 | Old School | Ted Macabe | 8 episodes |
| 2014 | House of Hancock | Lang Hancock | Miniseries |
| 2015 | And Then There Were None | General John Gordon MacArthur | Miniseries |
| 2016 | Tutankhamun | Lord Carnavon | Miniseries |
| 2019 | Rick and Morty | Monogatron Leader | Voice, episode: "The Old Man and the Seat" |
| 2020 | Flack | Duncan Paulson | Season 2 |
| 2021 | Invasion | Sheriff John Bell Tyson | Season 1, Episode 1 |
| 2022–present | The Twelve | Brett Colby SC | Main role: 18 episodes |
| 2024 | Apples Never Fall | Stan Delaney | Miniseries: 7 episodes |
| TBA | Untamed | Paul Souter | In production |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2015 | Lego Jurassic World | Alan Grant | Archive Audio from the films. |
| 2018 | Jurassic World Evolution | Alan Grant | Voice role, Return to Jurassic Park Expansion |
| 2021 | Jurassic World Evolution 2 | Alan Grant | Voice role, Biosyn Dominion expansion |

### Behind The Scenes / Making Of

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | The Making Of 'Daybreakers' | Himself / Charles Bromley | Documentary Film |
| 2020 | Jurassic World Dominion | Himself / Dr. Alan Grant | On-Set Interview On-Set Featurette / Behind The Scenes Legacy Featurette |

### Self appearance

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Forgotten Silver | Himself | Television film |
| 2001 | Space | Himself | Documentary series |
| 2009 | bro'Town | Himself | Voice, episode: "To Sam with Love" |
| 2016 | Why Anzac with Sam Neill | Himself | Documentary, wrote and produced |
| 2016 | New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands | Narrator | Documentary series, 3 episodes Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator |
| 2016 | Country Calendar | Himself | Episode: "Film Noir" |
| 2016 | The Graham Norton Show | Himself | Season 20, Episode 2 |
| 2017 | Julia Zemiro's Home Delivery | Himself | Season 5, Episode 1 |
| 2017 | Get Krack!n | Himself | Season 1, Episode 1 |
| 2018 | The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill | Himself | Documentary series, 6 episodes (known as Captain Cook's Pacific with Sam Neill in the UK) |
| 2020 | Australian Story | Himself | Season 25, Episode 10: "His Brilliant Careers" |
| 2021 | The Graham Norton Show | Himself | Season 28, Episode 16 |
| 2023 | Australian Story | Himself | Season 28, Episode 26: "His Brilliant Careers (Update) - Sam Neill" |
| 2023 | The Project (New Zealand) | Himself | Interview |
| 2023 | The Project (Australia) | Himself | Interview |
| 2024 | T. REX | Narrator | Documentary Film |
| 2024 | Today | Himself | Episode: 7th March 2024 |
| 2024 | The Kelly Clarkson Show | Himself | Season 5, Episode 128 |
| 2024 | The Assembly | Himself / Interviewee | Documentary series, 1 episode |

## Books

| Year | Title | Publisher | Pages | Notes |
| 2023 | Did I Ever Tell You This? A Memoir | Melbourne: The Text Publishing Company London: Michael Joseph Ltd. | 400 | Booktopia's Top 10 Favourite Books, 2024 |
| 2024 | Did I Ever Tell You This? A Memoir (Fully Revised and updated with new writing) | Melbourne: The Text Publishing Company London: Michael Joseph Ltd. | 432 | |
* Neill, Sam (2023). Did I Ever Tell You This?: A Memoir. London: Michael Joseph Ltd. ISBN 9780241648988. OCLC 1356450549.
* Neill, Sam (2023). Did I Ever Tell You This?: A Memoir. Melbourne: The Text Publishing Company. ISBN 9781922790309. (Australian edition)