Sam Neil has revealed the behind the scenes drama that occurred while filming Jurassic Park. Photo / Getty Images
Sam Neil has revealed the behind the scenes drama that occurred while filming Jurassic Park. Photo / Getty Images
Sam Neill has joked that working on Jurassic Park was an "actor's nightmare".
The 74-year-old star - who was born in Northern Ireland but moved to New Zealand as a child - played Dr Alan Grant in the 1993 classic and initially spent a month mastering an American accent forthe role until he was told by director Steven Spielberg to use his own, and then something "in-between".
He said: "[Steven] came up to me halfway through the day and he said, 'Hey, Sam, you know the accent we were talking about?' I said, 'Yeah, I've been working on it for four weeks...'"
Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler and Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic World Dominion. Photo / Universal Studios
"He said, 'Don't worry about it, just use your own voice.' I said, 'That's great, Steven, thank you so much'.
"And then four days later, he came up to me and said, "You know that voice you're using now?' I said, 'Yeah, my voice?' He said,'Somewhere in between.' It was an actor's nightmare!"
The film tells the story of a team of genetic scientists who create a wildlife park of dinosaurs, and the Sleeping Dogs star admitted he still to this day gets "a lot of flak" for his ever-changing accent in the movie.
He told Vanity Fair: "So that's why I get a lot of flak to this day: Sam Neill's American accent in Jurassic Park was a load of T. rex poo!"
Neill is set to reunite with former Jurassic Park co stars Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum - who played Dr Ellie Sattler and Dr Ian Malcolm in the film series respectively - for the latest instalment, Jurassic World Dominion and Dern admitted that they all "became a family" when Hurricane Iniki tore through the Hawaiian island of Kauai where they were filming back in 1992.
She said: "[We're close] partly because of the hurricane, I think we really made a family. Steven, [producer] Kathy Kennedy, I mean, these are family members now, through all our lives together, including the amazing Jeff Goldblum and my gorgeous Sam!"
