Sam Neill is undergoing treatment for his rare form of blood cancer. Photo / Instagram
Kiwi movie legend Sam Neill has shared an update in his battle with a rare form of blood cancer - but the busy actor, author, vineyard owner and doting grandfather says he’s not letting the fear of death take over his life.
Earlier this year, Neill, 76, revealed that what he originally thought was a round of Covid turned out to be non-Hodgkin angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, diagnosed early last year.
In a new interview with Australian Story the Jurassic Park star has shared his stance on having cancer and the gruelling impact of his treatment which meant as much as he wanted to he wasn’t well enough to work on his Central Otago vineyard, Two Paddocks.
“I know I’ve got it, but I’m not really interested in it,” he said of his diagnosis.
“It’s out of my control. If you can’t control it, don’t get into it.”
When it was discovered chemotherapy was ineffective, his doctor turned to an anti-cancer drug which put the star in remission for more than 12 months.
But Neill says the drug - administered in the form of fortnightly infusions which leave him feeling like he’s been in a boxing ring - will eventually cease to work.
“I’m prepared for that,” Northern-Ireland born Neill told Australian Story, adding that while he’s not “remotely afraid” of dying, it would be “annoying” because he’s still got things he wants to do. It’s the idea of retiring that’s more terrifying for the busy septuagenarian.
His latest work includes an adaptation of writer Liane Moriarty’s Apples Never Fall and the Australian mini-series The Twelve. And he’s written a book he sees as a memoir of sorts for his four children and eight grandchildren.
Did I Ever Tell You This? is a collection of anecdotes and personal stories from his more-than-50-year glittering career.
“I started to look at my life and realise how immensely grateful I am for so much of it,” Neill said.
“I started to think I better write some of this down because I’m not sure how long I have to live. I was running against the clock.
“I can’t tell you how privileged I am to spend that amount of time with so many actors, so many of whom I’ve really enjoyed and so many of whom I’ve really admired,” he told Australian Story.
Stars Neill has worked with include Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, Meryl Streep in Evil Angels, Nicole Kidman in Dead Calm and Sean Connery in The Hunt for Red October. Other notable films include The Piano and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
In an interview with the BBC earlier this year, Neill said one of his concerns is that news of his cancer battle becomes more prominent than his book.
“The last thing I want is for people to obsess about the cancer thing because I’m not really interested in cancer. I’m not really interested in anything other than living.”
Neill tells Australian Story while he’s always been big on the idea of living in the moment, cancer has amplified the importance of it and making the most of his time.
He shares that when the beat-up from a round of his treatment has subsided, he looks forward to “Ten days ... in which I could not feel more alive or pleased to be breathing and looking at a blue sky”.
Since coverage of his Australian Story interview aired last night, Neill has taken to his Instagram to reiterate that he’s still fighting and plans to “be in remission for years to come”.
“I made a passing remark that the treatment I’m on which has me in remission will inevitably fail one day. That’s what happens. It’s nothing to worry about.
“I’m in remission, I plan to be in remission for many years to come. I’ll bore you all to death with lots more work. At such time as it does fail we’ll try something else. There’s all sorts of things that are happening with cancer these days. It’s a whole new ball game.
“Please stop worrying. I’m getting a lot of messages on social media and from friends - sorry to worry everybody. It’s all fine. It’s all good. I’m off to work. It’s a beautiful day.”