Sam Neill's Reunion With The Son He Gave Up For Adoption Wasn't At All Like The Movies

Sam Neill had an acting career that spanned five decades, though perhaps his biggest role was Alan Grant in the "Jurassic Park" franchise. Neill passed away on July 13, 2026, at the age of 78, and he's survived by his four children: Tim, Maiko, Elena, and his eldest son, Andrew. Neill hasn't always had a relationship with all of his kids, especially Andrew, who Neill put up for adoption when he was in his 20s, and Andrew was a baby. The biological father and son didn't see each other again for 25 years.

A child meeting their birth parent (and vice versa) could be a situation that's fraught with emotion; at least, that's how it's been portrayed in movies like 2016's "Lion." In the case of Neill and his son, though, it sounds like the two of them were fairly levelheaded about it. Neill spoke with The Sunday Times in 2014 about his first time meeting Andrew as an adult and admitted, "These reunions are portrayed as sentimental and grisly, but there is nothing sentimental about it. No one sobs in anyone's arms; it's much more grown-up."

Neill didn't give many details about what prompted the reunion with his adopted son, which reportedly occurred in 1994, or how the two of them got in touch. All he provided in The Times interview, which seems to be one of the only times he spoke publicly about Andrew, was one somewhat cryptic sentence: "I didn't see him for 25 years and then we went looking for each other." We're glad they found each other.

As for why Andrew was put up for adoption, it sounds like Sam Neill and Andrew's mother were at a time and place in their lives where they didn't feel comfortable being parents. "My first son, Andrew, was given up for adoption when he was very small. I was quite small, too — in my early 20s," Neill told The Times. It seemed that the actor didn't believe he was ready at the time, telling the outlet that, if he could give any advice to his 20-year-old self, it would be, "You're more capable than you think."

It's not clear if Neill stayed in touch with Andrew after the two of them met as adults. It may have been that the meeting was just what the two of them needed for closure, or they could have formed a private relationship. Neill was one of those actors who kept his private life private, and his kids have stayed out of the spotlight — no cringe nepo baby situations here.

Along with Andrew, Neill had a son, Tim Neill, with actress Lisa Harrow, whom he met on the set of "Omen III: The Final Conflict." He was married to Noriko Watanabe from 1989 to 2017,  and they shared two daughters; he was the biological father of Elena, and he adopted Maiko, the daughter Watanabe had during a previous relationship. As such, he experienced both sides of adoption during his life.