Kiwi icon Sam Neill's name isn't Sam! He reveals what it really is to Jono & Ben

Kiwi icon and legendary actor Sam Neill has released his very own book, Did I Ever Tell You This? A Memoir.

Jono and Ben from The Hits radio station, Neill opened up about his writing process and his decision to document his stories for his children.

Initially, Neill did not plan on writing a book, but he found himself collecting stories to share with his kids while he was unable to work during his cancer treatment.

"I really didn't mean to write a book that wasn't the intention. It just sort of turned into that eventually," Sam told Jono and Ben. "I realised the stories I was sort of collecting for my kids [turned into] 400 pages."

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In his book, Neill revealed that his real name is not actually Sam at all, which shocked many of his fans.

His name is in fact Nigel, but he changed it to Sam because he was worried the name would be a "liability".

"[I have] the unfortunate first name of Nigel, which I realised very early on was the liability."

Revealing how he settled on the name Sam, Neill says he liked the name because it sounded like the name cowboys had in Westerns.

"That was a really very smart decision I made because Nigel's in diminishing supply. I don't know how many there are in New Zealand, but I'm sure they're all uncomfortable with it,” he joked. 

Despite his success as an actor, Sam remains down-to-earth and chooses to live a simple life in Central Otago, where he owns a winery.

"I’ve always chosen not to be a celebrity," Sam told Jono and Ben.

"[Becoming a celebrity] is very rewarding if you wanna go that way. And you can, you know, people pay you a lot more to be in movies because you're a celebrity, but that never interested me at all."

Regarding his health, Neill shared that he is currently in remission and feeling good. He had to undergo chemotherapy during his treatment, but he is now taking tennis lessons and enjoying life.

Fans of Neill and anyone interested in memoirs should definitely check out Did I Ever Tell You This? A Memoir. With Neill’s talent for storytelling, it promises to be an engaging and entertaining read.