Kevin Milne: A touching story about the late Sir Sam Neill

Kevin Milne feared he might “never see my wife again” as she drove off in a car with Sir Sam Neill for horse-riding lessons, but the equally shy pair were instead like “two 15-year-olds on a first date”. 

The former Fair Go presenter this morning shared a touching story of when his wife Linda Milne helped the future movie superstar prepare for his role in the 1979 Australian period drama My Brilliant Career. 

Linda’s experience matched the contrast between the “commanding characters that the great man played and the quiet, almost shy, person he was personally”, Milne told Newstalk ZB’s Saturday Mornings with Jack Tame. 

Tributes for the Kiwi star of the big screen best known for his leading role in Jurassic Park have been shared around the world since he died aged 78 of pneumonia in a Sydney hospital on Monday. 

“I’ve a story that goes back to when Sam had just become a household name in New Zealand [after] he had played the lead role of Smith in Sleeping Dogs [in 1977]”, Milne told Tame. 

The couple had known Neill for a year or two when he called asking if Linda could coach him on how to manage a horse on hills, as he’d just landed a role in My Brilliant Career. 

Sam Neill needed to hone his horse-riding skills for a starring role in 1979 Australian period drama My Brilliant Career. 

“Sam was a lad of gentle charm and exceptionally good looks. For Linda, a very shy 22-year-old, the thought of spending an afternoon on her own with the gorgeous Sam Neill freaked her a bit. 

“Anyway, they head off in the car together, two gorgeous people on the journey to where Linda kept her horse. I feared I might never see my wife again.” 

But Linda quickly discovered the accomplished actor whose future credits would include The Piano and Hunt for the Wilderpeople was “every bit as shy as she was”. 

“As they drove along, not only was she struggling to get a sentence out to Sam, but the star of Sleeping Dogs was having equal difficulty thinking of what to say to her. 

“They were like two 15-year-olds on a first date. For a long time, she says, there was awkward silence.” 

A stop at the dairy helped break the ice when his wife Linda Milne, left, helped actor Sam Neill prepare a role in 1979's My Brilliant Career, says former Fair Go presenter Kevin Milne, centre. Also pictured is Tommie Milne, the youngest of Kevin and Linda Milne's four children. Photo / Hagen Hopkins 

Fortunately, a shop came into view, Milne said. 

“Sam broke the ice … ‘Shall we stop at the dairy and I’ll buy some Summer Rolls?’ A very sweet offer from the movie star, which Linda accepted. 

“Communications must have improved enough for Linda to show Sam how to handle a horse on hills, because the following year we watched him do it up on the big screen, so strikingly, so elegantly in the highly successful My Brilliant Career.” 

Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
That'd be Kevin Melms here with us this morning to
Kevin Kyota.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
There are thousands of images on your average news broadcast,
but that one photograph stole the show at our place
last night.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
It's amazing.

Speaker 4 (00:25):
It's funny because I've been I've known about that photo
for quite a few years.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
I've seen it, you know, quite a few times.

Speaker 4 (00:31):
But I knew just for the stars aligning all these
little things like for example, you know, you just think
for them to meet for the first time in a
game in the World Cup final like that, that actually
just even little.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Things like you needed to have Argentina and.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
Spain be on different sides of the World Cup draw
you know, if they'd been on the same side of
the drawer, then they might have met in a quarterfinal
or something that wouldn't have been quite as interesting. But
the fact that they're meeting on the biggest stage for
the first time, I just yeah, it's it's crazy.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Anyway, did you follow it sort of coming up? Did
you follow it as this extraordinary occurrence got closer and closer? Oh,
had you forgotten you had seen the phone.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
No, no, no. The moment I saw the photo.

Speaker 4 (01:12):
I saw the photo a couple of years ago when
le Mine Marle broke onto the kind of world football
stage at the Euros. So he was a real start.
And he was sixteen or seventeen at the Euros and
broke onto the world stage. And the photo was online then.
And when I saw it for the first time, I
assumed it was ai or I assumed that it was people.
I assumed that it was a made up thing, you know,

(01:33):
And I thought, oh, for goodness sake, there's no way
that the sky can be that these two people can
be connected.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
And then and then I saw that it was real.

Speaker 4 (01:40):
And so coming into this World Cup, I thought, oh,
it'll be interesting.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
But I hadn't realized that they had never played.

Speaker 4 (01:47):
I never really stopped to think that they'd never really
played on a football pitch together until now.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
So, yeah, it is. It's remarkable.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
But Kevin, you have you have for us this week
some fond memories of the late actors as Sam Neil. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Among the tributes to Sam Neil this week were reflections
on the contrast between the commanding characters that the great
man played and the quiet almost shy person that he
was personally. Have a story that goes back to when
Sam had just become a household name in New Zealand.
He had played the lead role of Smith in Sleeping Dogs.

(02:21):
So we're going back to nineteen seventy seven seventy eight.
We had known Sam a bit for a year or two.
My wife Linda got a call from him saying he
had just landed a role in the Australian movie My
Brilliant Career. It required him to be on horseback and
although we could ride, he needed some coaching on how

(02:41):
to manage a horse on hills. Linda could do that.
Sam was a lad of gentle charm and exceptionally good looks.
For Linda, a very shy twenty two year old, the
thought of spending an afternoon on our own with the
gorgeous Sam Neil freaked her a bit. Anyway, they hit

(03:02):
off in the car together, two gorgeous people, on the
journey to where Linda kept her horse. I feared I
might never see my wife again, But Linda discovered Sam
was every bit as shy as she was as they
drove along. Not only was she struggling to get a
sentence out the stand to Sam, but the star of

(03:24):
Sleeping Dogs was having equaled difficuldy thinking of what to
say to her. They were like two fifteen year olds
on a fair state. For a long time, she says,
there was awkward silence, and after a few k's, Sam
broke the ice when a dairy came into view. Shall
we stop at the dairy and I'll buy some summer rolls?

(03:49):
A very sweet offer from the twenty eight year old
movie star, which Linda accepted. Communications must have improved enough
for Linda to show Sam how to handle a horse
on hills, because the following year we watched him do
it up on the screen so strikingly, so elegantly in

(04:10):
the highly successful My Brilliant Career.

Speaker 4 (04:13):
Yeah, that's a lovely mess a little story.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, that is a lovely memory, Kevin, That's a really
lovely memory of.

Speaker 4 (04:20):
Such sad news this week after after you know, I
you know, saw saw them come before his peers at
the TV Awards last year and then and be celebrated,
and then you know, it just sounded like his health
was on the improve.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
But yes it was. It was a bit of a shock.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
It shocked me to the core, really, really shocked me.
I mean, I don't know that I've got any other
friend who has been so successful as him, and so
you don't imagine that he's going to be cut down
sort of. I know he was seventy eight, but I mean,
let's feels young when you're seventy seven.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Thank you so much, Kevin.

Speaker 4 (05:00):
Have a great weekend, and we will catch again Kevin
Milne with us this morning.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks at B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.