Sam had such ease about him and I just loved the way he seemed to cruise through life. But he confronted his mortality with real courage

His unshowy gifts, which discreetly carried arthouse drama and blockbuster adventures alike, never sucked a movie’s oxygen in to his own performance

The actor, who has died aged 78, was refreshingly candid about Hollywood, filmmaking, his cancer treatment – and why he preferred life on his New Zealand farm to the movie business