“Jurassic Park” star Sam Neill was determined at a young age to make his real name as extinct as the dinosaurs.
In her new memoir, “Did I Ever Told You So?” the actor wrote about being born “Nigel John Dermot Neill” and the animosity it engendered in him against his mother and father.
“The only thing that upsets my parents, the only thing, is that they named me Nigel,” Neill wrote, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday. “Changing my name to Sam at the age of 11 was probably the best decision I made in my life.”
Neill, born in Northern Ireland and raised in New Zealand, told the Otago Daily Times in 2009 that “Nigel was a bit worn out by the rigors of a New Zealand playground”. And he told a reporter named Nigel.
Neill explained to the media that there were several Nigels at his boarding school, so “I encouraged the nickname, because I thought I would be a little less likely to be a victim.”
Neill, 75, is also known for his roles in “The Piano” and “Dead Calm.” He said he was recently treated for blood cancer and is in remission.
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