United Kingdom, Aug. 12 -- Christopher Chung has revealed Sam Neill gave his "blessing" for My Brilliant Career.

The late actor, who died aged 78 last month, played Harry Beecham in the 1979 film adaptation of Miles Franklin's classic novel, and he sent a video to the 38-year-old Australian star after he was cast as the romantic lead in Netflix's upcoming series based on the 1901 book.

Christopher old WWD: "I sent him a video of me in my costume, because Kate Mulvany, who plays my auntie, is very good friends with him.

"So she managed to get a video message to him from me, and then in turn he sent one back.

"[He] gave me his blessing on the role, which was really, really generous and sweet. It was really nice to have him in my corner ...