Alec Baldwin is facing a wave of online criticism after sharing an almost three-minute Instagram tribute to Sam Neill, the beloved New Zealand actor who died earlier this week at 78. The 68-year-old actor, who worked with Neill on the 1990 action thriller The Hunt for Red October, used the video to reflect heavily on his own memories from the film’s set, mentioning Neill only briefly at the beginning and again in the closing moments of the two-minute, 47-second clip. The post quickly drew reaction on Reddit’s /r/fauxmoi forum, where one user argued that Baldwin seemed to be processing “his own eventual death” rather than honoring his former co-star. Another called the video “insane” in its self-focus, while a third compared the name-heavy monologue to “a slow, meandering version of We Didn’t Start The Fire.” Others were more forgiving, with one commenter suggesting Baldwin was simply drifting through old memories in the way many people do with age.
Baldwin recalls early film breakthrough
Baldwin opened the Instagram video by saying he had wanted to speak briefly about how deeply affected he was to hear of Sam Neill’s death. He then shifted into a long recollection of making The Hunt for Red October, noting that the movie was filmed in 1989 and released the following year. Baldwin described the project as one of his first major film roles, explaining that although he had already appeared in titles such as Working Girl and Beetlejuice, those parts had been comparatively smaller.
Remembering an all-star Red October cast
The actor went on to praise director John McTiernan and said one of the most exciting parts of the experience was getting to meet author Tom Clancy. From there, Baldwin broadened the tribute into a reflection on the film’s ensemble, saying he had worked with many extraordinary performers over the years, including “Tony and Meryl,” but that The Hunt for Red October remained especially memorable. He then listed numerous cast members from the acclaimed submarine thriller, including Sean Connery, Tim Curry, James Earl Jones, Courtney B.
Baldwin recalls unforgettable co-stars
Vance and Stellan Skarsgård. At the point where many viewers expected Baldwin to focus more directly on Neill, he instead continued describing the overall experience of making the film, saying that every scene seemed to place him opposite another remarkable actor. He also wandered into a set memory involving Ron Grutman smoking a cigarette and doing a Russian accent, before launching into an impression of James Earl Jones.
Sam Neill remembered with heartfelt tribute
Neill’s name returned only at the end of the clip, when Baldwin said The Hunt for Red October was one of the rare films from his career that he could still remember in full because of how much he admired the work of the cast. He insisted he was not praising his own performance, but the performances of the actors around him, before closing with: “Sam Neill. My love to his family.” News of Neill’s death came just months after the Jurassic Park star had revealed he was cancer-free following a prolonged battle with the disease.
Family mourns Sam Neill’s sudden passing
Neill, whose celebrated screen career included major roles in Jurassic Park and The Piano, died in a Sydney hospital on Monday. His family described his passing as “sudden and unexpected” in a statement shared to his Instagram page. The actor had previously been diagnosed with a form 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,” the statement said.
Family mourns sudden, dignified loss
The family said Neill was surrounded by loved ones and died with the same dignity that had defined his life. They added that while the loss was sudden, they took comfort in knowing he had remained cancer-free. The statement also thanked the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their care and asked for privacy as the family copes with the loss. In April, Neill — best known globally for playing paleontologist Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise — had shared that recent tests showed no signs of cancer.
Cutting-edge therapy gives Neill new hope
Speaking earlier with Channel Seven, Neill had described how close he came to death after chemotherapy stopped working. He said he had been living with lymphoma for about five years and that while chemotherapy had been difficult, it had helped keep him alive until it was no longer effective. “It looked like I was on the way out,” he recalled. Neill later underwent CAR T-cell therapy, an advanced treatment that genetically alters a patient’s own T-cells so they can detect and attack cancer cells. Private treatment can cost around $540,000 USD.
