Sam Neill made his debut in the 1975 drama film ‘Landfall’ directed by Paul Maunder. In 1977, he starred as ‘Smith’ in the New Zealand dramatic action-thriller film ‘Sleeping Dogs’ directed by Roger Donaldson. The film received wide praise from critics and came to be regarded as one of the best films in New Zealand. He next appeared in films like ‘Just Out of Reach’ (1979), ‘The Journalist’ (1979), ‘Omen III: The Final Conflict’ (1981), ‘Possession’ (1981), ‘Ivanhoe’ (1982), and ‘Attack Force Z’ (1982). In 1983, he joined the cast of the British television series ‘Reilly, Ace of Spies’ where he played the role of ‘Sidney Reilly.’ The show ran for 12 episodes and received mostly reviews from critics. Neill also became a recipient of the ‘Golden Globe Award’ nomination for his performance in the series. He was next seen in films like ‘The Blood of Others’ (1984), ‘The Country Girls’ (1984), ‘Robbery Under Arms’ (1985), ‘Plenty’ (1985), ‘For Love Alone’ (1986), and ‘The Umbrella Woman’ (1987).Â
In 1988, he starred as ‘Michael Chamberlain’ in the Australian drama film ‘Evil Angels’ directed by Fred Schepisi. Even though the film received a positive response from critics, it failed to perform at the box office. Nevertheless, Neill bagged the ‘AACTA Award’ for his performance in the film. The following year, he appeared in the Australian psychological thriller film ‘Dead Calm’ directed by Phillip Noyce. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and was later named one of the 1000 best films ever made by The New York Times. In 1990, he starred as ‘Captain Vasily Borodin’ in the American submarine spy thriller film ‘The Hunt for Red October.’ The film was a major critical and commercial success. Neill next appeared in films like ‘Until the End of the World’ (1991), ‘Memoirs of an Invisible Man’ (1992), ‘Jurassic Park’ (1993), ‘The Jungle Book’ (1994), ‘Restoration’ (1995), ‘Children of the Revolution’ (1996), ‘Event Horizon’ (1997), ‘The Horse Whisperer’ (1998), ‘Molokai: The Story of Father Damien’ (1999), and ‘My Mother Frank’ (2000).Â
The year 2001 saw the release of the American science-fiction action film ‘Jurassic Park III’ where Neill reprised his role as ‘Dr. Alan Grant.’ The film received a mixed response from critics and was a commercial success. He continued to star in films like ‘Dirty Deeds’ (2002), ‘Perfect Strangers’ (2003), ‘Wimbledon’ (2004), ‘Gallipoli’ (2005), ‘Irresistible’ (2006), ‘Angel’ (2007), ‘Dean Spanley’ (2008), ‘Daybreakers’ (2009), ‘Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole’ (2010), The Dragon Pearl’ (2011), ‘The Vow’ (2012), ‘Escape Plan’ (2013), ‘United Passions’ (2014), ‘Backtrack’ (2015), ‘Tommy's Honour’ (2016), ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ (2017), ‘Palm Beach’ (2019), and ‘Rams’ (2020). He was last seen in the 2021 3D live-action/computer-animated adventure comedy film ‘Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway.’ The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a commercial success.