The late, great Sam Neill had a plethora of iconic roles, most notably as Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise. Neill’s portrayal as the gruff, yet well-meaning Grant was a large part of what made the original Jurassic Park work, apart from the obvious presence of dinosaurs. It also started a trend of Neill taking on roles in science fiction projects, from the cult classic Event Horizon to the short-lived Alcatraz. However, Neill delivered one of his best performances in an Apple TV sci-fi series that took a unique approach to an alien invasion.
That series, appropriately titled Invasion, debuted five years ago on Apple TV. Invasion chronicles a series of strange events around the globe that serve as the prelude to an alien invasion. What makes Invasion stand out from other “first contact” stories is that it focuses on a group of humans around the globe and how these events unveil secrets they’ve been keeping, either about themselves or the ones they love. This is established in the very first episode, “Last Day,” which focuses on Neill’s Jim Bell Tyson and his last day as a sheriff in Oklahoma.
Sam Neill Delivers an Acting Masterclass in ‘Invasion’
Throughout ‘Last Day,’ Sam Neill gets the chance to deliver an incredible performance as Jim Bell Tyson. Tyson is grappling with an existential sense of despair as his retirement approaches, and he takes it upon himself to solve one last missing-persons case. Two moments stand out in the episode: the first is when he tells his partner, Grady (DeWanda Wise), about a case he solved that eventually led to tragedy; the second takes place at his retirement party. In both scenes, Neill lets his body language do the talking, and the way he stands makes it feel like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
04
How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
06
What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.
Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Arrakis · Dune
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
USS Enterprise · Star Trek
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
The Rebellion · Star Wars
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
The Nostromo · Alien
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
The Wasteland · Mad Max
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
Such a gripping performance makes it all the more shocking when Tyson is mysteriously killed by an alien figure, meaning that ‘Last Day’ is the only episode of Invasion with Sam Neill in the lead. That makes his performance stand out all the more, as he brings the same everyman energy that made Alan Grant a standout character. Surprisingly, Invasion co-creator Simon Kinberg revealed in an interview that he didn’t specifically write the role of Tyson with Neill in mind, but was convinced due to his body of work.
“He’s a huge favorite of mine, too, and I didn’t think about him when I was writing the role…Sam is a star and I love his body of work, but the body of work is diverse enough and he’s enough of a character actor that I will believe him in this role in a show that is really about trying to be as grounded and real as possible.”
While Neill might not have been Kinberg’s first choice, itwas his performance that helped set the stage for what Invasion was meant to accomplish. It would take a while, but the series would eventually get to the level of its pilot.
The First Episode of ‘Invasion’ Sets a High Bar for the Rest of the Series
While Invasion got off to a great start with ‘Last Day,’ its first season received a dismal response. Many felt that the focus on humans rather than aliens undermined the science-fiction elements and that Neill’s performance in ‘Last Day’ was the sole highlight of an otherwise unimpressive show. It wasn’t until Season 2 that the show started to pick up, with a time jump that provided a compelling mystery that kept viewers hooked. Season 3 took things even further by finally paying off plot threads that had been in motion since Season 1, anchored by strong performances from Shamier Anderson and Golshifteh Farahani.
As of August 2026, Apple TV has yet to renew Invasion for a fourth season, but the series still carries one of the best television pilots in recent years, and it’s all thanks to Sam Neill’s performance. If you love Jurassic Park and want to see more of Neill’s work, then ‘Last Day’ is more than worth a watch.
