Alec Baldwin is facing criticism over a nearly three-minute video tribute to his former co-star Sam Neill, who died earlier this week at the age of 78.
The 68-year-old actor was branded “insane” and “narcissistic” by some viewers after sharing an Instagram video on Monday in which he reflected on the celebrated New Zealand star of Jurassic Park.
Baldwin and Neill appeared together in the 1990 action thriller The Hunt For Red October, and much of Baldwin’s two-minute, 47-second message focused on his own memories from that production. Critics noted that Neill was directly referenced only in the opening seconds and again briefly at the end.
On Tuesday, users in the Reddit subreddit /r/fauxmoi/ took aim at the post, with one commenter writing: “this is a man who is thinking about his own eventual death because of the death of a colleague, instead of eulogizing the colleague at all.”
“The narcissism is insane,” another user posted, while a separate commenter joked: “So many name drops it’s like a slow, meandering version of We Didn’t Start The Fire.”
Not everyone was critical, however, with some commenters coming to Baldwin’s defense.
Alec Baldwin has drawn backlash over a nearly three-minute tribute to former co-star Sam Neill, who died earlier this week at 78
Baldwin and Neill appeared together in the 1990 action thriller The Hunt For Red October, with Neill pictured in the film
One Reddit user said: ‘He’s just vibing with memories, sometimes old people ramble haha, I think this sounds kinda normal for someone getting up there in age.’
Baldwin began the rambling tribute video by saying: ‘I just wanted to come on here quickly and say, how stricken I was to learn of the death of Sam Neill. When I did The Hunt for Red October, we shot in ’89, it came out in 1990, a long time ago.
‘And that was probably my first big movie in terms of having a, a decent-sized role, ’cause I’d done Working Girl and Beetlejuice and things like that, where I had a smaller role. And I do Hunt for Red October and, yes, John [McTiernan] is a great director and, um, one of the most exciting parts of it was, for me, was to meet Tom Clancy.’
He went on praise the cast and then named over a dozen of their co-stars.
Baldwin continued: ‘But the cast, I mean, I’ve had great casts, I’ve worked with great people. You know, Tony and Meryl, and so many other people that I really, really admired, and do admire. But the, the, um, I mean, my God, Hunt for Red October.’
He went on to name 14 of his and Neill’s castmates from the iconic film including Sean Connery, Tim Curry, James Earl Jones, Courtney B. Vance, and Stellan Skarsgård.
One would assume this would be where he would talk about Neill, however, he said: ‘There’s a lot of other people in there who I enjoyed working with, but my God, my God. What an experience that was.
‘What an experience it was to do that movie with those people. I mean, every time you turned around to do a scene, you were with this great actor.’
Baldwin only mentioned the late Neill in the first ten seconds and last five seconds of the two-minute and 47-second clip
Users on Reddit subreddit /r/fauxmoi/ slammed the post on Tuesday
There were some who did defend Baldwin however
Baldwin seen in The Hunt for Red October
Baldwin then went on to reminisce by telling a story about Ron Grutman smoking a cigarette and doing a Russian accent before doing a James Earl Jones impression.
The star finally named Neill again as he concluded: ‘That is one of the few movies I have ever done where I remember the whole movie. That’s what a fan I am of that work. Not me. I’m not a fan of my work but I am a fan of their work.
‘Anyway, oh my God. My God. Sam Neill. My love to his family, My love to his family.’
Meanwhile, it was revealed that Neill had passed away at 78 just months after he revealed he was ‘cancer-free’ following a long battle with the disease.
The New Zealand actor – who starred in blockbusters such as Jurassic Park and The Piano – died in hospital in Sydney on Monday.
Family described his death as ‘sudden and unexpected’ in a statement published on his Instagram page. The actor was previously diagnosed with a type of blood cancer.
‘It is with immense sadness that the whānau (family) of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13 July, in Sydney, Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life,’ they said.
‘The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer-free. They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care.
The New Zealand actor – who starred in blockbusters such as Jurassic Park and The Piano – died in hospital in Sydney on Monday
‘More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.’
In April, Neill – who is best known for playing Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise – announced tests had found he was cancer-free.
In an interview with Channel Seven, Neill detailed how close he came to death after chemotherapy stopped working. It was instead a costly, cutting-edge treatment that then prolonged his life.
Neill said: ‘I’ve been living with a particular type of lymphoma for about five years and I was on chemotherapy and it’s a pretty miserable business, but it was keeping me alive.
‘Then the chemo stopped working. I was at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn’t ideal obviously.’
Neill underwent a special treatment called CAR T-cell therapy, which genetically modifies a patient’s own T-cells to recognise and destroy cancer cells. Private treatment costs around $540k USD.
