'Jurassic Park' star Sam Neill reveals his real name, says his chosen name was inspired by Western films
"Jurassic Park" star Sam Neill is opening up about why he decided to ditch his birth name when making a career for himself in Hollywood. The actor shared that this decision stems from his childhood.
Sam Neill was not always known as "Sam Neill."
On Tuesday's episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show," the "Jurassic Park" star told the host and audience members that he first decided to go by a different name when he was 10 years old to avoid childhood bullies.
When Clarkson mentioned that Sam was not his real name, Neill replied, "That's embarrassing that you know that." The actor shared that his parents named him Nigel Neill, which, according to the star, was "giving me a disadvantage from the start."
SAM NEILL ASSURES FANS HE'S ‘ALIVE AND WELL' AND IN REMISSION AFTER CANCER NEWS
Neill explained that being named Nigel was an inviting opportunity for children to give him embarrassing and cruel 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 explained. "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."
The New Zealand actor continued, "There are no film actors called Nigel Niell, that's never gonna happen."
Sam's legal name is Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill KNZM OBE.
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Neill rocked headlines last year after revealing he had been diagnosed with stage 3 blood cancer in March 2022. Back then, he called the illness "ferocious," and in an interview in October, he admitted that while he is not sure exactly how much time he has left, he is not scared of dying.
Specifically, the actor said he is "not remotely afraid" of death, and even finds the idea of dying "annoying" because he still has things he would like to do.
Speaking to the television program "Australian Story," Neill detailed his diagnosis of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, saying he was in "a fight for my life." He underwent a few months of "brutal" chemotherapy, something he said stripped him of "any kind of dignity."
His doctor, Orly Lavee, appeared on the show to explain that before he was even done with the first round of chemo, the cancer proved to be resistant to the treatment and became even more aggressive. She said many patients choose to stop treatment altogether if this happens, but Neill was "quite keen" on keeping up the fight.
She prescribed a "novel" drug as the next step in his treatment, and he said it was a "surprise" when it actually worked.
"That was a year ago now," Neill said of the new medicine, "and I have been in remission ever since then, and I'm immensely grateful for that. It's not something I can finish, I will be on this for the rest of my life. Every two weeks I go in and get beaten up again. It's like going 10 rounds with a boxer, but it's keeping me alive. And being alive is infinitely preferable to the alternative."
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Because of the successful treatment, the actor said at the time that he had been able to do "my first sort of substantial work for over a year."
Neill's latest project, "Apples Never Fall," was released on Peacock on March 14. The miniseries is an adaption of the "Big Little Lies" author Liane Moriarty's thriller by the same name.
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The show also stars Annette Bening, Jake Lacy, Alison Brie and Essie Randles.
Fox News Digital's Emily Trainham contributed to this report.