{"id":5342,"date":"2026-07-13T20:56:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T15:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5342"},"modified":"2026-07-13T20:56:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T15:56:37","slug":"steven-spielberg-laura-dern-cillian-murphy-react","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5342","title":{"rendered":"Steven Spielberg, Laura Dern, Cillian Murphy React"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/sam-neill.jpg?quality=80\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-id=\"1611282\" data-title=\"Steven Spielberg, Cillian Murphy, Nicole Kidman Pay Tribute to Sam Neill\" data-url=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2026\/07\/sam-neill-death-celebrity-reactions-tributes\/\" data-page=\"1\" data-pages=\"1\">\n<p>Before <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2026\/07\/sam-neill-jurassic-park-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">his death at the age of 78<\/a>, actor <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/tag\/sam-neill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sam Neill<\/a> made a striking impression on those he worked with, who spoke with deep affection about the late actor the morning of his passing.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/film\/news\/steven-spielberg-mourns-sam-neill-jurassic-park-1236809406\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">a statement to <i>Variety<\/i><\/a>, Steven Spielberg wrote: \u201cI owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Via <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DiscussingFilm\/status\/2076683702185116100\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Discussing Film<\/a>, Neill\u2019s longtime <i>Jurassic<\/i> co-star Laura Dern said that \u201cSam was my beloved lifetime friend\u2026 He showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of wit. A true and noble gentleman, who was wrapped up in my dream leading man. I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Related Video<\/p>\n<p>The <i>Peaky Blinders<\/i> Instagram account, on behalf of Cillian Murphy and the show\u2019s other cast members, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DaupjQEF9zm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">posted the following statement<\/a>: \u201cWe are devastated to hear that Sam Neill has died. Sam\u2019s portrayal of Chester Campbell is one for the ages. A villain who is despicable, petty, manipulative, but also charismatic, vulnerable, funny, and supremely entertaining to watch. Sam was one of the key forces that got Peaky Blinders off to a running start, for which we will be forever grateful. Our love and thoughts are with his family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Deadline also has a statement <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2026\/07\/cillian-murphy-tribute-peaky-blinders-sam-neill-1236980725\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">directly from Murphy<\/a>: \u201cLike everyone who knew and worked with Sam, I admired him and adored him in equal measure. He was one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people, and one of the finest actors. RIP.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Dauf_ZPBoAA\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Toni Collette<\/a>, \u201cI love you, dear Sam. You hero. You legend. You sweetheart. Our great friend. You are already missed so very much. Continue in peace wherever you are \ud83e\udd0d\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicole Kidman told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/culture\/movies\/sam-neill-dead-reports-20260713-p60ey2.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">the Sydney Morning Herald<\/a> that she was \u201cimmensely saddened\u201d by the loss. \u201cSam was one of the greats, a joy to be around,\u201d she said in a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald. \u201cWe met when I was just 18 and he took me under his wing and we stayed friends for life. He was charming, kind, funny and intelligent. He will be greatly missed, and my heart goes out to his family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>Jurassic World<\/i> director Colin Trevorrow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DauQUn5oNZA\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">wrote on Instagram<\/a> that \u201cSam Neill was a deeply soulful and beautiful man. He was a friend and collaborator at a challenging time, and his strength gave us all strength. I\u2019ll remember him for his tranquility, his love of wine, and for the calm assuredness he brought to his characters. It\u2019s not every lifetime you get to befriend a legend. Forever grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DauRn4uDX0y\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Richard E. Grant remembered Neill<\/a> as \u201can officer and a Gentleman in the truest sense. Guided and helped me through a very difficult time in my Life\u2026 Sail on, kind Sir.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/film\/news\/sam-neill-remembered-jurassic-world-director-hollywood-tributes-1236809393\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Through <i>Variety<\/i><\/a>, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, says that \u201cSir Sam Neill was one of the greats. He started out when there was barely a film industry in this country to speak of. For more than fifty years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today \u2013 one of our greatest cultural exports,\u201d Luxon wrote. He added, \u201cSam made us proud to be Kiwis and we couldn\u2019t have been prouder of him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before his death at the age of 78, actor Sam Neill made a striking impression on those he worked with, who spoke with deep affection about the late actor the morning of his passing. In a statement to Variety, Steven Spielberg wrote: \u201cI owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/sam-neill.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}