All the headlines about the death of Sam Neill on Monday reminded people that he starred in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster 1993 film “Jurassic Park,” but the 78-year-old film and TV actor also became beloved in recent years for his charming social media presence, with many posts focusing on life on his remote New Zealand farm where he enjoyed a loving bond with his pigs, chickens, cows and other animals.

Neill named some of the animals living on his Two Paddocks farm and winery after celebrity friends, Entertainment Weekly reported. There’s Helena Bonham Carter the cow, Susan Sarandon the sheep, Rose Byrne the chicken and Taika Waititi the pig

As recently as June, Neill posted a video of himself serenading to his cows, while in December, he revealed that his beloved rooster, Michael Fassbender, had lost some tail feathers to a rogue dog that tore through the property and attacked him. “You poor old boy,” Neill said soothingly to Michael Fassbender, who he said had been traumatized by the attack. “But you’re OK now. Your tail feathers will grow back.”

Following Neill’s death, people on both sides of the world are remembering the prolific and versatile actor in various ways, with tributes coming in from Spielberg, Cillian Murphy, Nicole Kidman, Toni Collette and Christopher Luxon, New Zealand’s prime minister who called him one of their country’s “greatest cultural exports,” AP reported.

Neill revealed in 2023 that he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, AP reported. He died on Monday in Sydney, according to a statement posted to the actor’s Instagram.

One of the ways that Neill became such a valued ambassador for New Zealand was in how he celebrated life on his farm and winery, in Gibbston, Central Otago, Realtor.com reported. People who knew him as an actor, with more than 100 screen credits, got to know him in a new way, especially when the world was on lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. As much as Neill loved being an actor, he revealed in interviews that his true passion lay with his Two Paddocks property, which he purchased in 1993.

Neill, a father of four who was born in Northern Ireland to an English mother and a New Zealand father, said his acting career allowed him to earn enough money to turn his farm and winery into a thriving business, as he told The West Australian in 2008.

Around the time Neill turned 70, he also began posting “carefree” Twitter and Instagram videos of himself talking to, and sometimes frolicking with, animals who lived at Two Paddocks, as The Cut reported.

“What resulted is some of the most wholesome and soul-cleansing celebrity content on the internet,” The Cut’s writer Freddie Campion wrote. Campion said that he turned to Neill’s social media posts “in moments of stress.” He also offered a quick sampling of some of his favorites.

The posts included one of Neill practicing yoga — including doing the “cobra” and “upward facing dog” poses with his pig.

Another showed Neill having a sweet conversation with a duck, telling the duck: “You are a pretty duck. You are! Don’t let anyone else tell you anything different.”

Later on, Neill revealed that he named two of his hens after Laura Dern and Bryce Dallas Howard, his female co-stars in the “Jurassic Park” franchise.

Neil also shared that his pigs, Angelica and Bryan, were very excited to help with the grape harvest but that there was a catch. “Angelica volunteers every year for picking, but that ain’t never gonna happen,” Neill explained. “Because … well, (Angelica’s) a pig .#pinotnoir #centralotago.”

Neill generally stepped away from X, or Twitter, in 2023, saying he wasn’t happy to be in a place that is “so angry and divisive.” So he began to exclusively post his animal stories and other news about his farm and film career on Instagram.

Entertainment Weekly reported that there’s no word yet on who will take over duties on Neill’s farm and winery, “but we hope whoever steps up to the job has as much admiration for the animals as he did!”

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