Remembering Sam Neill, Who 'Just Fit In With Whatever’s Going On'

First of all, "I just fit in with whatever’s going on," is a quote directly from Sam Neill as I tried to give him praise during an interview. At the time I dismissed this as Neill being affable, which he certainly was. But, in retrospect, today, after we all learned of his passing, it now actually comes across as profound. It's such a humble way of saying, "Yeah, I'm pretty good at everything." Which he was.

I often cite this example, a movie most people won't, with his performance in John Carpenter's Memoirs of an Invisible Man. (A movie that's a little better than its reputation.) Chevy Chase is miscast as Nick Halloway, a man who is turned invisible for reasons that would take too long to explain and it doesn't matter. Though, Sam Neill is perfect as a CIA agent named David Jenkins who is hunting the now invisible Nick in an effort to both study what happened to him and use him as a government agent. Nick, having had enough of all of this, confronts Neill's Jenkins.

What's amazing about this scene is, since Chase is playing an invisible character, this is just all Sam Neill, with a plastic gun taped to his head, just going for it. When Neill re-enters the frame 25 seconds in, this is high comedy, but played dead serious. Look at him! He is incredible.

Yes, he certainly does "just fit in with whatever's going on." A year later he'd star as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, a movie that does not work without him...