Jurassic Park star Sam Neill recently revealed that he has stage three blood cancer and has been undergoing treatment since last year, but now the actor is offering a promising update about his condition. In a video shared to his Instagram (via The Wrap), Neill explained that he’s in remission from the disease — angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma — and that he’s still working.
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“Hi, I’m Sam Neill, actor of sorts, vintner, and an author as it happens. And my news seems to be all over the news at the moment, and it’s sort of ‘Cancer! Cancer! Cancer!’ which is slightly tiresome because as you see, I am alive and well and I have been in remission for eight months, which feels really good. And I’m alive and kicking and I’m going to work. I’m very happy to be going back to work. We start filming in seven days’ time. I’m doing a thing called Apples Never Fall with Annette Bening, and a really wonderful cast,” he writes. “So here I am, and I just wish the headline wasn’t ‘that thing’ so much, because the main thing is that I have written this book, it’s called Did I Ever Tell You This? And it does mention cancer because that’s the sort of context in which I wrote it. But I didn’t really mean to write a book, I needed something to do while I was undergoing treatment, and I am used to going to work and I suddenly couldn’t go to work. So, that’s why I wrote the book and I have to say there’s been great response to it. People seem to love it, which is great. I was very nervous, obviously as a first-time author. Anyway, I think it’s fun. We sub-titled it Movies, Life, Love and Other Catastrophes. So, it gives you an idea of all the crazy things that have happened to me. The tone of the book is one of surprise. I never thought that I would have a career as an actor, let alone an actor on screen. But that’s kind of what happened, and I am full of gratitude looking back on this life, and that’s what the book is about. I hope you enjoy it. I enjoyed reading the audiobook the other day, I hadn’t looked at the book for quite a while but while I found it more entertaining than I expected. And I would look through the glass window at the audio engineer/producer and he seemed to be cracking up a lot, so I take that as a good sign. So, I hope you enjoy it, and let’s not worry too much about ‘all that’ because I’m fine. Okay!”
As he noted in his caption, Neill revealed his cancer diagnosis in his memoir, explaining that he began experiencing swollen glands while promoting Jurassic World Dominion last year, was subsequently treated with chemotherapy and while he is now cancer-free, he will continue receive monthly treatments for the remainder of his life. He also spoke about the situation in an interview with The Guardian.
“I can’t pretend that the last year hasn’t had its dark moments,” Neill said. “But those dark moments throw the light into sharp relief, you know, and have made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends. Just pleased to be alive.”
“I’m not afraid to die, but it would annoy me,” Neill said elsewhere in the interview. “Because I’d really like another decade or two, you know? We’ve built all these lovely terraces, we’ve got these olive trees and cypresses, and I want to be around to see it all mature. And I’ve got my lovely little grandchildren. I want to see them get big. But as for the dying? I couldn’t care less.”
What do you think about Neill’s update? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
