Jurassic Park star Sam Neill has revealed he’s undergoing treatment for stage three blood cancer.
The 75-year-old actor shared the news of his diagnosis in his upcoming memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, which is set to release on Tuesday. Neill spoke with The Guardian about the book, revealing that he started writing stories from his life as a way to keep busy during treatment throughout the last year.
“I never had any intention to write a book,” Neill said. “But as I went on and kept writing, I realized 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.’ And so it was a lifesaver really, because I couldn’t have gone through that with nothing to do, you know.”
Neill revealed he first experienced swollen glands last March, during the press tour for his return as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic World Dominion. Shortly after, Neill was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. He is currently on a chemotherapy drug he will continue to take monthly for the rest of his life. Neill is currently cancer-free.
“I’m not afraid to die, but it would annoy me,” he said. “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.”
The actor concluded that he’s “just pleased to be alive” even though the last year had its dark moments.
Image credit: Europa Press News / Getty Images
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
