Sam Neill reveals the great Australian actress who avoided him for 30 years: ‘It’s just not worth it’
Sam Neill has revealed the identity of the Australian star who has shunned him for almost 30 years.
The 75-year-old fan favorite says he no longer speaks to Judy Davis, who co-starred with Sam in the hit Australian film My Brilliant Career in 1979.
In that film, the two young stars played characters who became involved in a torrid romance, but Sam now says things got icy off-screen between the two during filming.
The Jurassic Park star made the startling revelation in his new memoir Did I Ever Tell You?
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Judy was asked on Saturday to respond to Sam’s remarks, but so far she has not commented.
Sam Neill has revealed in his new memoir Did I Ever Tell You This? the identity of the Australian star who shunned him for nearly 30 years
Meanwhile, Sam admits he was a little “in love” after first meeting Judy, who was just 24 at the time My Brilliant Career was filmed.
He goes on to explain in his memoir that Judy did not return his feelings.
Although they made a string of films over three decades, things remained unsettled.
The 75-year-old fan favorite says he no longer speaks to Judy Davis, who co-starred with Sam in the hit Australian film My Brilliant Career in 1979 (pictured).
In My Brilliant Career (pictured), the two young stars played characters who became involved in a torrid romance, but Sam now says things turned icy off-screen between the two during filming
When the two screen icons starred in the 1996 film Children of the Revolution, Sam says things between them had peaked. Pictured: Judy Davis in a scene from Children of the Revolution – It was a box office flop
When the two screen icons co-starred in the 1996 film Children of the Revolution, Sam said the situation between them had reached a breaking point.
“Judy was predictably awkward as hell to work with, but as always I told myself it was worth it,” writes Sam of filming the box office-flopping black comedy in 1996.
“Towards the end I realized that for some reason she wasn’t talking to me. Not even “Good morning” in the make-up tag.
Sam believes Judy is a huge talent and says he often sided with her in arguments with filmmakers on set, but eventually broke off the professional relationship.
“I’m often slow to realize these things,” he explains in the book, “but reluctantly I realized it wasn’t worth it at all. Not at all.
“Your last loyal supporter has frozen. We never spoke again. Sometimes I spot her in a foyer and see her looking away sharply. I don’t have anything to say to her anyway.’
It comes after the Peaky Blinders star revealed his recent traumatic health journey in his memoir, released this week.
Sam, who is in remission after being diagnosed with stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, said he found out about his condition after noticing lumps in his neck.
Sam believes Judy is a huge talent and says he often takes her side in on-set arguments with filmmakers, but he eventually gave up the professional relationship. Pictured: Sam, aged 32, as he appeared in My Brilliant Career
The twelve star was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL), from which about 50 percent of those affected die within five years.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma begins in the white blood cells and usually occurs first in the neck lymph.
In his case, Sam says he received chemotherapy to fight the cancer. It is now in remission.
Despite this, he is expected to require chemotherapy for the rest of his life.