Quotes from Sam Neill

It took me 30 years, but I finally bought myself the Patek Philippe watch I'd always wanted. It's ridiculous how much I love it.

I think I'm pretty benign, really, mostly.

I think you need brains to do any Shakespeare with any authority. I could do Shakespeare, but not with any authority.

I understand acting and I understand actors. I don't really understand the world of celebrity. That's just bizarre. Those sorts of elements I'm at sea with.

If it looks like fun, and it looks like quality, then I'll do it. I don't feel compelled to work - or not to work.

I like actors. I like their insecurities, their humor and their intelligence.

People turn into fools when they see a movie star and do weird things.

I met the most extraordinary people all over the Pacific, but especially the people in Vanuatu who, in a material sense, are the poorest people I've ever come across. They own nothing, but in a well-being sense, they are easily the wealthiest people that I've come across.

I go by the role pretty much. And I think the only genre I haven't gotten to do but I'd love to is a western, but no one has ever asked me to do that. Unfortunately they are very few and far between these days, but that is one type of film I'd love to do.

I enjoy some physical stuff. But if I had a choice between playing a scene where it's raining, it's terribly cold, I'm wet and I'm being drowned and playing a scene with dinosaur eggs in a laboratory, I'd probably take the latter. It's warmer and generally more comfortable!

Whilst filming 'Jurassic Park,' I watched a hurricane approaching the beach in Hawaii. My co-worker Laura Dern and I thought we might die, but we managed to laugh about it later.

I feel very privileged working with other actors. Actors tend to be the best company I know.

I've worked all my life to shed myself of any character.

'Dexter' I'm very fond of. I got addicted to that.

If you're making a horror film, it's very important that you have lots of quiet, suspensey, don't-know-what's-happening stuff before you get the big fright.

If you want to learn about America, watch 'The Wire.' It's a profound piece of entertainment.

I think so much of your energy when you're growing up is about becoming independent of your parents. And the older you get, the more you realise you're actually so much part and parcel of the same kind of material.

We always have to remind ourselves of how fragile life on this planet is and what responsibilities we have.

I don't have a chateau in France. There's no private airplane or yacht.

Do you know, I'm not as much of a moviegoer as I should be, and I do end up - because I'm travelling so much - I end up seeing movies on aeroplanes, which is the worst possible way to see a movie!

I'm not sure it's affection for Australian or New Zealand films or not. I think it's just that there's something about 'Wilderpeople' that has really struck a chord.

Every actor wants more offers, but I get enough and I do like to be busy.

If you're making films in New Zealand, you can't avoid the landscape. It's certainly more handsome than I am.

I certainly don't want to die playing a round of golf. And I don't want to die like Elvis. That's all they remember about him - the most beautiful man on the planet.