‘It’s out of my control’
Sam Neill says he’s “not remotely afraid” of dying as he continues to battle cancer.
The Jurassic Park actor revealed he had stage-three blood cancer in his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This? in March.
The 76-year-old has been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma – a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma – and began receiving chemotherapy to try and tackle the disease.
But just three months after starting treatment, the chemo reportedly stopped working, prompting doctors to try and treat him with a rare anti-cancer drug.
The actor now requires infusions every two weeks, but the drug has proved effective and he’s been in remission for 12 months.
Speaking to Australian Story, Neill said that the days after his treatments are “very grim and depressing”, leaving him feeling like he’s gone 10 rounds with a boxer.
Neill said while the treatments keep him alive, he’s determined not to give the disease too much thought, saying: “I know I’ve got it, but I’m not really interested in it.”
He added: “It’s out of my control. If you can’t control it, don’t get into it.”
Neill says he has 10 days between the effects of his treatment passing and his next appointment to enjoy life, and he does: “In which I could not feel more alive or pleased to be breathing and looking at a blue sky.”
The drug will stop working at some point, doctors have told the actor, but he’s “prepared.”
Although death would be “annoying”, because he’s got more to do in life, after thinking deeply about mortality following his diagnosis he’s now “not remotely afraid” to die.
Retirement, however, “fill (him) with horror.”
While receiving chemo Neill had to stop acting, at which point he wrote his memoir thinking “I better write some of this down because I’m not sure how long I have to live”.
Neill began filming for the adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s novel, Apples Never Fall, before production was shut down as a result of the actors’ and writers’ strike in the US and is also filming season two of the mini-series The Twelve.
In a follow-up video, Neill said: “I made a passing remark that the treatment that I’m on, that has me in remission, will inevitably fail one day – well, that’s what happens… its nothing to worry about.
Related links:
Jurassic Park star Sam Neill diagnosed with stage three blood cancer
Watch Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill sing duet on location for Jurassic World 3
