This was one of the most read stories of 2023 on nzherald.co.nz.
Sam Neill’s book is full of surprising confessions including that his real name isn’t Sam - and it’s something he resents his parents for.
The Jurrasic Park star has revealed in his book that he will never forgive his parents for calling him Nigel and says changing his name at the age of 11 was the “best decision” of his life.
Born Nigel John Dermot Neill in Northern Ireland before the family moved to New Zealand when he was 7, the actor has revealed he got so fed up with his name he decided to change it to Sam.
In his book Did I Ever Tell You This, Neill wrote: “The one thing I resent about my parents, the only thing, is that they called me Nigel. Changing my name to Sam at the age of 11 was probably the best decision I made in my life.”