Sam Neill: the silent child with a stutter who became a movie star

Sam Neill: the silent child with a stutter who became a movie star

From Last Word by BBC Radio 4

July 17, 2026 · 28 min

About this episode

The episode explores the life and career of Sam Neill, along with stories of influential figures in music and cooking.

Sam Neill starred in over fifty films and numerous television series, playing often wildly different roles, from a palaeontologist in Jurassic Park to a repressed husband in The Piano. When he was seven years old the family moved from Northern Ireland to his father’s native New Zealand, a country which Sam grew to love, and, as his friend and fellow actor Oscar Kightley told Matthew, which also came to love Sam. We also hear from writer and journalist Hadley Freeman. Phyllis Kinney became known as one of the most influential figures in traditional Welsh music, although she was born many miles from Wales in Michigan, USA. She moved to London to further her training as an opera singer, when on a trip to Wales, she met and fell in love with folk musician Meredydd Evans. The two married and together performed and edited collections of Welsh songs that came to be regarded as the definitive reference works of Welsh traditional music. Her friend, poet Arwel Jones, tells her story. Acclaimed chef Bill Poon brought authentic Chinese cooking to the UK and set about changing the negative perception of Chinese food across the country. In 1980 his was only the second Chinese restaurant in…

People in this episode

Guest: Sam Neill

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Jurassic Park, The Piano

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