Rizna Mutmainah
Family & Pets

Sam Neill moved to tears by simple question

Sam Neill has unexpectedly broken down in tears over one question posed to him by a university student. 

The Jurassic Park actor was the surprise guest during the premiere of ABC's new series, The Assembly, based off the UK show which sees high-profile figures being interviewed by a class of university students who are all autistic. 

The students can ask whatever they want, and one student, Abby brought the actor to tears with her question. 

“What’s the best lesson you learned from your parents?” she asked. 

“Ooft, wow. That’s a really interesting question … A really, really interesting question,” Neill replied, before pausing as he began tearing up. 

“I don’t know why that question has moved me so much, but it has.”

The actor then went on to explain that his parents were  “of the generation that went through a lot” – including the Great Depression and World War One, in which his maternal grandfather was killed –  leaving both his parents “very stoic”.

“And I’d done a year of university and I’d done bugger all. I was acting in plays and trying to find a girlfriend, you know … so it came to exam time and I realised I’d done almost no work,” Neill recalled.

“It got me very anxious. Anyway, I got home and Mum said, ‘How are you, darling?’ and I said, ‘I think I’m having a breakdown, I’ve got exams in a couple of weeks …’ and she just looked at me and said, ‘Well, you’re just going to have to pull yourself together’.”

He continued: “And I think that’s the best lesson I learned from her. Sometimes you just have to pull yourself together. It’s a tough lesson, but a good one – and thank you for that question." 

Elsewhere during the interview, he also spoke candidly about his recent blood cancer battle, and while he is in remission after a year of chemotherapy, he still requires monthly treatments which he'll have to do for the rest of his life. 

One student asked him, "what motivated you to keep going, and did you have anyone supporting you through it?”

He admitted that while it had been a "pretty brutal" process, he is grateful for all the treatments keeping him alive "and living is much better than the other thing.”

Images: ABC

Tags:
Family & Pets, TV, Sam Neill, The Assembly