Out of Character

Enigmatic actor Sam Neill is a private person in a public world. But get him talking about wine and you can’t shut him up.

Words: Lyn Barnes  Photographs: Aaron McLean

     Sam and his dog, Fire.

SAM NEILL THREATENS to bore to death anyone who will listen to him talk about wine and his winery. He heads home to Queenstown, New Zealand, whenever he can and mows the vineyards as his way of resting between movies.

The Proprietor (as he refers to himself) of Two Paddocks is hands-on at his Central Otago vineyard whenever possible. One of his roles is updating the winery’s entertaining website. A recent addition to the page on www.twopaddocks.co.nz is entitled Proprietor Takes a Day Off. “Management let the Proprietor off his onerous duties in the relentless pursuit of wine excellence today. The Proprietor took off fly fishing, and met with some success. Landed 17 rainbow trout, all 21/2 to 5 pounds, lost similar number. All released. Strangely, Proprietor has already forgotten the name and whereabouts of the river.”

Last year the 57-year-old starred in three movies and directed one. There’s no slowing down planned for this passionate Kiwi. As well as his acting/directing commitments he and Kiwi comedian John Clarke – who Neill says is the funniest person he has ever met – have set up Huntaway Films, a production company to develop and produce New Zealand and Australian film and television projects. And then there’s the winery and endless projects he and his Queenstown-based team are developing at Two Paddocks headquarters.

Sam’s acting career spans four decades. He calls these his “reasonably successful thespian itinerant years”. After a BA in English from Canterbury University and a spot of student acting, he scored a leading role in the acclaimed 1977 Kiwi classic Sleeping Dogs (directed by his friend and neighbouring vineyard owner Roger Donaldson) and was noticed by casting agents in the United States.

He achieved international recognition when he starred as the romantic lead in the 1979 Australian movie My Brilliant Career. Since then he’s appeared in a string of movies that prove what a versatile and internationally respected star he has become – The Piano, Jurassic Park, The Dish, The Horse Whisperer, The Zookeeper, the television series Reilly: Ace of Spies – he’s even appeared as a guest on The Simpsons, which in some circles proves he’s really made it.

Sam’s Queenstown home was designed by his favourite architect, Wellington-based Ian Athfield. “Ath is an old friend and New Zealand’s greatest architect,” says Sam, who respected the man’s work so much that he made a documentary about him. Sam feels Athfield has been undervalued. “It is utterly amazing that his joint entry with Frank Gehry was turned down for Te Papa. What an icon we would have had – something perhaps on a par with the Sydney Opera House.”

The house is virtually an art gallery. Among his favourite paintings are ones by Colin McCahon, Ralph Hotere and Rita Angus. But his home and his personal life are no-go zones; he’s fiercely private and security conscious and very rarely gives interviews. He won’t discuss his age, or his and wife Noriko Watanabe’s children. They met on the set of the movie Dead Calm, that chilling tale co-starring Nicole Kidman. The Two Paddocks website lists Noriko as: “Closely related to proprietor. Top Hollywood make-up artist and Top Chefalso. Good looking sort.” The couple also has another home in Sydney.

But switch back to wine and away Sam goes again.

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