Jurassic Park star Sam Neill moved to tears over question about his parents

In the debut of ‘The Assembly’, an Australian interview series, Sam Neill became emotional when asked about the greatest lesson learned from his parents. The ‘Jurassic Park’ star pauses to gather himself, expressing surprise at how deeply the question affects him. In the premiere episode of the Australian interview series The Assembly, which follows a group of autistic journalism students at Sydney's Macquarie University, a student asks the Jurassic Park and Possession star, "What is the best lesson you learned from your parents?"

Neill responds, "Oh, wow. That's a really interesting question. That's a really, really interesting question. I think there were" — he then stops to get his bearings, seemingly moved to tears by the thought of his loved ones. "I don't know why that question has moved me so much, but it has," the actor says after a moment of contemplation.

 "My parents were of the generation that went through a lot of things," he says. "They went through the Depression. My mother lost her father in the First [World] War, so she grew up without her father. So they went through a lot of stuff. But they were very stoic people."

Neill ultimately says that his most treasured lesson from his parents came at a moment of crisis during his time as a university student.

"I attended a year at a university, where I'd done bugger-all," Neill recalls, chuckling. "I was acting in plays and trying to find a girlfriend and all that stuff. It came to exam time, and I realized I'd done almost no work. It got me very anxious. Anyway, I got home, and Mum said, 'How are you, darling?' and I said, 'Oh, Mum, I think I'm having a breakdown! And I've got exams in a couple weeks and I don't know how I'm gonna —'"

Neill remembers his mother responding with sage advice: "She just looked at me and she said, 'Well, you're just going to have to pull yourself together, aren't you?' And I think that was the best lesson I learnt from her, is sometimes you just have to pull yourself together."