When veteran actor Bryan Brown turned up to a film premiere on Monday night, nothing seemed to be amiss.

The 68-year-old, who has a storied career in Australia and overseas, was only too happy to walk the red carpet and have his photo taken ahead of the new Sam Neill film Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

But once he got inside and started mingling, Neill – his former costar – was nowhere to be seen.

"[I] got into the event and asked where Sam was and they said, who is Sam?" Brown said on Monday night, according to News Corp.