Jurassic Park’s Sam Neill Shares He’s In Treatment After Stage 3 Blood Cancer Diagnosis

Sam Neill is getting candid about his health.

The actor shared he was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare form of blood cancer, in 2022 after noticing swollen glands during a press tour for his movie, Jurassic World Dominion.

"I can't pretend that the last year hasn't had its dark moments," he told The Guardian in an interview published March 17. "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."

Although now cancer-free, Neill's journey had a few bumps. According to The Guardian, his first treatment did not work, leading him to turn to a chemotherapy drug which he will receive monthly for the rest of his life.

"I'm not off the hook as such," the 75-year-old noted, "but there's no cancer in my body."

After all that he's been through, Neill is walking away with a new outlook in life.

"I'm not afraid to die, but it would annoy me," he quipped. "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."

Neill continued, "But as for the dying? I couldn't care less."

Neill upcoming memoir Did I Ever Tell You This? will also document his health journey, though he insisted that it's not a book solely about his cancer battle because "I am never going to read another bloody cancer book in my life." So, what made him decide to share his story?

"I found myself with nothing to do," he explained. "And I'm used to working. I love working. I love going to work. I love being with people every day and enjoying human company and friendship and all these things. And suddenly I was deprived of that. And I thought, ‘what am I going to do?'"

Neill added that he "never had any intention to write a book," but that as he started putting ink to paper, "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," the Jurassic Park star added, "because I couldn't have gone through that with nothing to do."