A CELLO of a voice echoes in my ear, genteel and precise as I sit, beaming and humble by the kitchen table halfway down a big glass of red wine. The voice sounds as though he might be calling from the phone-box at the end of the road. He isn't, of course. He is thousands of miles away, 26 hours as the jet flies, on the opposite side of the globe, just about as far away from me, the wine and the phone-box as it is possible to be.
When Sam Neill rang last Thursday night, it would be fair to say he took me by surprise. Even though I'd been trying to track him down for a chat, it isn't every day a Hollywood wizard rings you at home.
Dinosaur expert, zookeeper, Russian submarine captain, son of the devil - Sam Neill has played them all – and with some aplomb. He has a back catalogue of films that makes the entire British film industry look like the dole queue and has starred in some of the best loved movies in modern cinema history, not least The Horse Whisperer, The Piano, The Dish, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm and Event Horizon. He is probably best known for his portrayal of Dr Alan Grant in Speilberg's blockbusters Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III and it has also been rumoured (though I forgot to ask him about it – dagnabit) that he will reprise his role as the mild-mannered palaeontologist in the possible 2008 film Jurassic Park IV.
Did I mention he's from Omagh?
"The memories I have of Omagh, tend to be memories from photographs," the cello tells me quietly. "I was back two or three years ago, though I only stayed briefly, just for the night. I found the house where I was born actually, which was kind of interesting. I can't explain where it is. It was in the countryside when I was small, though that's changed now."
Sam is thinking of Mullaghmore House on the Old Mountfield Road, although I am unaware of this at the time.
"Come to think of it, I don't know why I wasn't born in the hospital. I was born in the kitchen, according to my mother."
Speaking from his home on New Zealand's South Island, Sam Neill pelts questions at me about Omagh and Tyrone. How are people doing? Is it a good place to live? Are the troubles behind us? He seems interested and I get the distinct feeling this isn't feigned.
Born in Omagh on September 14, 1947, Sam Neill (originally Nigel John Dermot Neill) DCNZM, OBE, is the second son of Dermot, a Harrow and Sandhurst-educated army officer and his English wife, Priscilla.
"I moved to New Zealand when I was seven, though after Omagh I lived for a time in Armagh and Co. Antrim. I was also back in Omagh during the '70s. I was hitch-hiking around Ireland at the time.
"Of course these days we follow what's happening (in the North) with considerable interest; we keep an eye on what's going on. The last big story we had was about the bloke who got stuck in the door."
Sam refers to Michael Stone with a smile in his voice, but when I mention "the bomb" the levity evaporates.
"That was the worst," he says, grimly. "It's getting better but it was pretty desolate for a long time."
A few years back, Sam Neill was even approached to play the role of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson, but turned it down due to contractual obligations. Not only that, but for a hair's breadth of chance, he narrowly missed out on the role of James Bond after Roger Moore's tenure came to an end back in the 1980s. And you just know you've arrived when you've had a cameo on the Greatest TV Show Ever - The Simpsons. Sam played the role of Molloy the Cat Burglar in Homer the Vigilante in 1994.
"I try to strike a balance with some of the smaller things, they tend to give me quite a lot of satisfaction," Sam remarks. "It's also good to go to Hollywood once in a while, to have a big trailer and get taken care of. Though they tend to be quite slow and take up a lot of your time."
"Is that right?" I add casually, as though cinematic legends talk to me about their lives all the time.
At present, apart from his continuing career in television and movies, Sam Neill has discovered he has a distinct penchant (and ability) for wine-making. Described by one reviewer as "sex in a glass," Two Paddocks wine is in high demand across the Antipodes and the southern hemisphere, a scarcity Sam attributes to the possibility that he and his friends drink quite a lot of it.
"There isn't enough to go round – and I like it too, which helps," he adds. "Two Paddocks is going great. It's nice to be in a position where demand exceeds supply. I'm very proud of it and I think it's exceedingly good wine. Next year we're going to be certified organic as well, which will be very satisfying. It's the classic grape of Burgundy, the Pinot Noir.
"It (wine) is something I developed an interest in, probably due to my affection for alcohol. When we first planted our vines we didn't have so many high hopes. But now we do. I'm lucky insofar as I am surrounded by people who know an awful lot about wine. I don't pretend to be an expert but I'm very interested."
Sam married makeup artist Noriko Watanabe in 1989 and he lives with her and their 16-year-old daughter, Elena at their home half an hour outside Queenstown on the South Island. He has another son, Tim, born in 1983 and two step-children.
Just returned from the 57th Berlin International Film Festival where he was promoting his new film, 'Angel,' which closed the festival, Sam's day at home is only beginning (it's around 10.30am with him). He confesses he plans on taking things easy apart from picking up Elena from school later on.
As for the future, the wine-making will continue and he has a promotional tour to do in the US for television series The Tudors when it airs in April. After that there's the rehearsals for another Australian film he's making.
It's all go – but not all the time. I live a kind of country life at home," Sam says. "I have chickens and pigs and, of course, the vines. One of the good things about my job is that I could afford to buy a little farm. It's great."
I thank Sam for calling. It has been a real pleasure and I tell him so. I hang up the phone and drain my wine.
Dagnabit! I forget to ask if I could be in his next film.
