‘Some fantastic mischief lurking just around the grin’: Sam Neill by Tara Fitzgerald – a poem
Neill’s co-star in the 1994 comedy-drama Sirens remembers a man of rare beauty, generosity and delight By the time I met Sam He had already
Neill’s co-star in the 1994 comedy-drama Sirens remembers a man of rare beauty, generosity and delight By the time I met Sam He had already assumed a kind of mythic status in our household, playing Reilly on Ace of Spies. My stepfather was his boss. 11 years on and I get to work with him, Playing Norman Lindsay (wryly). He was Electric-minded Some fantastic mischief lurking just around the grin The twinkle of his eye An astronomical scintillation No time for Acting Too busy Being.
Present (Before I knew what present even was) There for the other actor Made it seem so simple Really asked the question He could conjure anything Puckish So blessed to have had that time The proximity With the hope that something Might rub off Yes His softly softly take The first tasting of Two Paddocks Pinot noir On a gentle evening Chez lui (Another case of his generosity) The satisfying ritual of the swirling, the sniffing, the sipping, The glass half-full Raised To the life fully lived Fine unbuttoning of stories and some Past glories Never boastful Never cruel Only A delight at the sharing The wit and the wine and the Wrapping us all in his open embrace Us, being a shimmer of sirens, A bouquet of sheep shearers And an exaltation of Hugh Grants.
(To be sure, the badinage that flowed on set was an art form in itself) I’m looking at him now Shooting his closeup for a scene in the
garden, Where the children Watch a fairy show Staged by the artist’s models. His face flooded With imagination, With his own wonder, His own childlike joy. Continue reading...
The BriefWire