My wife briefly met him when she was living in Sydney. Said he was a really nice guy.
He seemed like a nice guy. This is a strange story, from a few years ago. I am very hazy on the facts but it goes like this. The New South Wales government were going to ban greyhound racing after pits full of dead greyhounds kept being discovered. These dogs were poisoned and buried when they could no longer race. Sam Neill intervened in the debate. He said the NSW government were engaging in class warfare. Only rogue dog owners were killing their dogs. The entire industry didn't need to be shut down. And poor people - lower social economic status - were the ones going to the races, not the snooty elite of government who didn't understand the sport and its appeal to people with little money. As a consequence, the NSW premier did an amazing thing for a politician. He did a backflip, apologised and said he got it wrong, and walked away from banning the industry. Sam Neill had insight and clarity of thought, and used his fame to amazing effect.
