Sam Neill opens up about cancer and his approach to death

Sam Neill is not afraid of dying. Nor is the 'Jurassic Park' star thinking about retiring. At 76, with a rare blood cancer, the actor has made a clear choice about the last stage of his life.

In March 2023, at the launch of his memoir, 'Did I Ever Tell You This?', he announced the diagnosis that shocked Hollywood and the world.

In the book, he said that a year earlier he had been detected with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. It's a rare cancer that affects the blood. In the case of Sam Neill, the illness is at a very advanced stage.

Photo: @samneilltheprop / Instagram

Neill wrote the book as a consequence of his illness. During the treatment, he was not able to work on set and had to look for something to do at home. The result was the memoir.

It was in 2022, during the promotion of 'Jurassic World: Dominion,' that health professionals detected the disease in the actor's body.

"The thing is, I’m c r o o k. Possibly dying. I may have to speed this up", is the phrase with which 'Did I Ever Tell You This?' opens.

Photo: samneilltheprop / Instagram

The health of Sam Neill has improved remarkably in the year that he has been in treatment, despite the fact that the chemotherapy he received in the first instance did not work entirely.

However, the actor chose to try a new anti-cancer drug that he will have to take monthly throughout his life. As he told The Guardian, this seems to be working.

For the past year, the tumor has been in remission but at some point, the medication will stop working. In the meantime, Sam Neill goes to the hospital every 15 days for blood transfusions.

As he said in an interview with 'Australian Story,' his cancer is in remission and he may have some extra time to live after all.

Obviously, fans around the world have been concerned. The news echoed and Sam Neill's phone didn't rest. That's what happens when you have to announce that you have leukemia.

For this reason, hours after he announced that he had cancer, Sam Neill sent out a video with a positive message to reassure the fans.

"Hi I’m Sam Neill, actor of sorts, vintner, and an author as it happens," he said on Instagram. "My news seems to be all over the news at the moment... And I’m alive and kicking and I’m going to work. I’m very happy to be going back to work."

Photo: samneilltheprop / Instagram

The actor confirmed he'd return to work in a project with Annette Bening. He also said that, for the moment, his state of health is as good as it can be.

Apart from the acting jobs, Neill recommends his memoir to everyone. "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?’" he stressed in his video.

Facing the disease with peace of mind invites the actor to be prepared for death. Divorced twice, he confesses that loneliness is the worst thing he's dealing with at the moment.

Photo: @samneilltheprop / Instagram

"I had some very lonely times last year," he told 'Australian Story,' but he added that he prefers not to date for obvious reasons. "I'm in a very uncertain world at the moment."

Picture: samneilltheprop / Instagram -

The actor rather talks about his memoir than about his cancer. The reason is logical, because his life has many more bright moments than dark ones.

"I can’t pretend that the last year hasn’t had its dark moments, 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," he told The Guardian. "Just pleased to be alive.W

"I never had any intention to write a book. But as I went on and kept writing, I realised it was actually sort of giving me a reason to live and I would go to bed thinking, I’ll write about that tomorrow... that will entertain me," he said.

Basically, Sam Neill doesn't want people to feel sorry for him because of his cancer, but rather to be happy for the life he's had. It's an optimistic and enviable perspective on life.