Hollywood star describes former Aussie PM as a ‘boorish w--ker’ after dinner snub
Much-loved actor Sam Neill has said he’s “never sat at a table with a ruder man” than former prime minister Bob Hawke.
Fiona Byrne
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The prolific and much celebrated actor Sam Neill has described former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke as behaving like a “boorish wanker” during a dinner with Hollywood luminaries.
Neill has recounted the private dinner hosted by Meryl Streep when she was in Australia filming Evil Angels in the late 1980s in his memoir Did I Ever Tell You This?
The Oscar winner played Lindy Chamberlain and Neil played her on screen husband Michael Chamberlain.
Hawke was among the handful of guests including Neill and his then wife Noriko and Fred and Mary Schepsis invited to the evening and he left an impression, just not a very good one on Neill, the star of blockbuster Hollywood hits such as Jurassic Park and The Hunt For Red October.
“I admired Hawke and was keen to meet him,” Neill wrote.
“He came on his own, on time and left early.
“It was clear from the moment he entered the room that he didn’t want to be there at all.
“I’d have to say, in all honesty, I have never sat at a table with a ruder man.
“The distinguished Fred Schepisi was there, a great Australian and a great director, along with his charming wife, Mary.
“Hawke hardly acknowledged them. The same went for me and my wife.
“I could forgive that, but not his rudeness, his outright bad manners, to his hostess Meryl and her husband, Don (Gummer).
“He couldn’t be arsed to even make conversation.
“‘Why turn up at all, you boorish wanker,’ I thought.”
The prickly anecdote was a rare departure from bonhomie that characterises the majority of the celebrity encounters, friendships and film set tales that pepper the hugely enjoyable book. Did I Ever Tell You This? was released last week.
Hawke passed away in 2019 and Neill was among those paying their respects at his State Memorial service in Sydney in June of that year.
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