Sam Neill

Sam Neill: I'd like the vineyard to support me but I'm afraid it is the other way round. It is not a very economic business. It is a ridiculously time and money-consuming business. I would not do it if it was not so satisfying and fun - and it gets me pissed once in awhile.

Sam Neill: I enjoy being a winemaker of sorts, even if my choice of wine means cultivating a very tricky and elusive grape. More and more of my friends at home and on film locations are after the Two Paddocks label, so I need this third vineyard. But I really do enjoy the commitment away from my real job, the one that pays all the bills - it's good for your soul to balance your work and life.

Sam Neill: (on kissing Hugo Weaving in the movie Little Fish) Kissing blokes is deeply unappealing. A bit like kissing an alsatian's arse. Horribly hairy. It gives me a new respect for women.

Sam Neill: (talking about his animals) I have very attractive black-faced sheep. (Interviewer: Do they make chops?) No. They make other sheep. I have one ram called Bryan Brown, after my friend the Australian actor. They have similar interests. I have a goat but he can't bear the sheep. He's a racist. He feels they are unspeakably below him. I need to get a goat whisperer. Maybe from Wales.

Sam Neill: (talking about meeting Druids while filming Merlin in Wales) A young couple with no shoes came to my hotel with all sorts of interesting observations about the old religion. They gave me a crystal. I've never believed in crystals. I've always been cynical and jaded but I got them to sew it into my costume. Day one chasing around Snowdonia on horses, the crystal was gone. I was devastated. A hundred people were searching for the crystal in 500 acres of national park. There's no way we're going to find it. 'Please stop,' I said. I put my head into my hands and looked down and in the grass between my feet was the crystal, and now I'm never without it. It's always in my roly-poly bag.

Sam Neill: (when complimented on The Piano) It was very hard to do that movie, chopping off your wife's finger in a rainstorm in the mud. Could have a bad effect on you. Holly Hunter was such a firebrand. She fought back like buggery. After three takes I was absolutely exhausted.

Sam Neill: The pathetic thing about actors is they don't feel valid unless they're acting.

Sam Neill: If all I did was acting, I'd go out of my mind.