“It’s an actor’s nightmare”: Sam Neill Blames Steven Spielberg for Fans Calling His Work in ‘Jurassic World’ a “Load of T-Rex Poo”

Steven Spielberg has dominated the filmmaking world with his impeccable work, thus contributing to the new Hollywood era. From his feature film debut with 1974’s The Sugarland Express, he became a household name just the next year with Jaws. By the 1990s, he was making commercial hits and directed, Jurassic Park which was a stepping stone to a new franchise. 

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The sci-fi action film was an immense success which helped the cast to get a boost in their career but not much in the case of Sam Neill, who portrayed the lead role of Dr. Alan Grant. While he made this character iconic his role had a flaw- his inconsistent American accent. However, the latter has blamed the film director for that flaw.

Steven Spielberg is to Blame for Sam Neill’s Accent in Jurassic Park

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Jurassic Park has highly impressed the fans with its overall elements but one could not help but weird out at Sam Neill‘s wobbly accent. His character, Dr. Alan Grant was supposed to be American but those who watched the films can notice him slipping his New Zealand accent. However, Neill shared that his wobbly accent is all thanks to the film director, Steven Spielberg. 

In an interview with Vanity Fair, he mentioned that he was working on learning the American accent when the director told him to just do his natural accent. 

“He 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.…’ He said, ‘Don’t worry about it, just use your own voice,’” Neill said. “I said, ‘That’s great, Steven, thank you so much.’”

Not long after, Spielberg had a change of mind, asking the actor to do somewhere in between. He shared, 

“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.’”

He concluded,

“It’s an actor’s nightmare!” Neill added. “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.”

Given that the film along with its characters rose to prominence, it was not the case for the actor. He addressed why he was unable to get action-star status.

Sam Neill’s Views on Why Did Not Gain Action-Hero Status!

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The 75-year-old actor had a great career due to his versatility but he was unable to gain action-star status despite working in the dino-classic. 

Addressing the same in his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This? he mentioned, 

“I owe so much to Spielberg and everyone involved, but I don’t think the Jurassic series made any seismic shifts in my career.” He added, “I didn’t become Mr. Action Hero or anything … Between Jurassic Park and Jurassic World Dominion, I went back to making films that interested me here and there, of varying quality.”

In an interview with Empire, he further elaborated his thoughts stating that he was ‘grateful’ to feature in the 1993 film. He mentioned, 

“As for being a movie star, I’ve got friends who are movie stars and I’ve never seen myself in that light. But I just love making movies, and I’m very comfortable on set.”

The film has already surged past $1 billion worldwide and is widely considered as one of the greatest films of all time.

Source: Vanity Fair