Spielberg, Dern and Kidman pay heartfelt tribute to Sam Neill

Steven Spielberg, Laura Dern and Nicole Kidman have heaped praise on late actor Sam Neill in heartfelt tributes.

The Jurassic Park actor passed away at the age of 78 on Monday in Sydney, Australia, prompting an outpouring of tributes from his famous friends and colleagues.

Director Spielberg, who cast Neill in his breakthrough Hollywood role in 1993's Jurassic Park, told Variety that he was "saddened" by the news of his death.

"I owe a debt of gratitude to (directors) Roger Donaldson, Gillian Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park," he began, referring to the directors of Neill's earlier Australian and New Zealand films, such as My Brilliant Career and Dead Calm.

"Sam was exceptionally collaborative," Spielberg continued of the father of four. "It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children."

"I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world."

Dern, who played Ellie Sattler alongside Neill's Alan Grant, remembered her "beloved lifetime friend" in a statement.

"He showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of wit. He was a true and noble gentleman, wrapped up in my dream leading man," she told multiple outlets. "I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant."

Both actors returned to the dinosaur franchise in 2001's Jurassic Park III and 2022's Jurassic World Dominion.

Meanwhile, Kidman told the Sydney Morning Herald that she was "immensely saddened" by the loss of Neill, her co-star in the 1989 psychological thriller Dead Calm.

"Sam was one of the greats, a joy to be around," she praised. "We met when I was just 18 and he took me under his wing and we stayed friends for life. He was charming, kind, funny and intelligent. He will be greatly missed, and my heart goes out to his family."

Elsewhere, Irish actor Cillian Murphy paid tribute to Neill, who played corrupt police officer Chester Campbell in the first two seasons of the TV show Peaky Blinders.

"Like everyone who knew and worked with Sam, I admired him and adored him in equal measure. He was one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people, and one of the finest actors. RIP," Murphy, who starred as Tommy Shelby, said in a statement shared with Deadline.

Neill's family confirmed that he was cancer-free at the time of his "sudden and unexpected" death.