In May 2022, actor Sam Neill revealed he was diagnosed with the rare blood cancer angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma and that chemotherapy was not working for him.
Neill switched to a different treatment, and his cancer has been in remission for about a year.
But, as he recently shared on Australian Story, the treatment will eventually stop working.
However, the actor noted:
“I’m prepared for that."
He added that while he is "annoyed" at the circumstances, he is not "remotely afraid."
You can watch the full episode below.
Why actor Sam Neill is not interested in his cancer | Australian Storyyoutu.be
Fans online were devastated by this update.
Others commended Neill for his courage.
The actor said retirement is "completely out of the question," and his experience has forced him to face his future.
He realized he wanted to document his memories for his children and grandchildren.
“I started to look at my life and realize how immensely grateful I am for so much of it."
“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."
Neill began working on a new memoir which will be titled Did I Ever Tell You This?
As he started writing, Neill recognized how fortunate he is to have a career with such longevity.
“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 also said he'd love to spend more time with his grandchildren, but that's the only part that bothers him..
“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.”
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