Sam Neill reveals why Jurassic Park was a 'nightmare' to film

Sam Neil has revealed the behind the scenes drama that occurred while filming Jurassic Park. Photo / Getty Images

Sam Neill has joked that working on Jurassic Park was an "actor's nightmare".

The 74-year-old star - who was born in Northern Ireland but moved to New Zealand as a child - played Dr Alan Grant in the 1993 classic and initially spent a month mastering an American accent for the role until he was told by director Steven Spielberg to use his own, and then something "in-between".

He said: "[Steven] came up to me halfway through the day and he said, 'Hey, Sam, you know the accent we were talking about?' I said, 'Yeah, I've been working on it for four weeks...'"

Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler and Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic World Dominion. Photo / Universal Studios

"He said, 'Don't worry about it, just use your own voice.' I said, 'That's great, Steven, thank you so much'.

"And then four days later, he came up to me and said, "You know that voice you're using now?' I said, 'Yeah, my voice?' He said,'Somewhere in between.' It was an actor's nightmare!"

The film tells the story of a team of genetic scientists who create a wildlife park of dinosaurs, and the Sleeping Dogs star admitted he still to this day gets "a lot of flak" for his ever-changing accent in the movie.

He told Vanity Fair: "So that's why I get a lot of flak to this day: Sam Neill's American accent in Jurassic Park was a load of T. rex poo!"

Neill is set to reunite with former Jurassic Park co stars Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum - who played Dr Ellie Sattler and Dr Ian Malcolm in the film series respectively - for the latest instalment, Jurassic World Dominion and Dern admitted that they all "became a family" when Hurricane Iniki tore through the Hawaiian island of Kauai where they were filming back in 1992.

She said: "[We're close] partly because of the hurricane, I think we really made a family. Steven, [producer] Kathy Kennedy, I mean, these are family members now, through all our lives together, including the amazing Jeff Goldblum and my gorgeous Sam!"