By Mark Gray
6:31am PDT, Oct 18, 2023
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Sam Neill's time on Earth could be coming to an end — and he's "prepared for that." In March, the "Jurassic Park" star revealed that he was being treated for stage-three blood cancer. In a new interview, the actor reveals that he's actually been in remission for 12 months thanks to a rare anti-cancer drug for which he receives an infusion every two weeks. However, Sam's been warned that the medication will stop working at some point.
Keep clicking to read why Sam is so nonchalant about cancer…
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Following his initial diagnosis, Sam Neill went through three months of chemotherapy — but it didn't work. His doctors then decided to try a rare anti-cancer drug, for which he receives an infusion every other week. The treatment is difficult, Sam said, and days that follow are "very grim and depressing."
"But it's keeping me alive," he noted, adding that following an infusion, he has about 10 days before things get "grim" again: "Ten days," he says, "in which I could not feel more alive or pleased to be breathing and looking at a blue sky."
His doctors have stressed that the treatment will eventually stop working, but Sam is prepared for that inevitable conclusion: He's "not remotely afraid" of dying, he said, adding that the idea of retiring from acting is what "fills [him] with horror."
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In a summer interview with The Guardian, Sam Neill was jovial about his health and noted that it would be a real inconvenience to die.
"I'm not afraid to die, but it would annoy me. 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," he said. "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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Sam Neill's attitude toward his cancer hasn't really changed. His best friend, actor Bryan Brown, recalled when the "Jurassic Park" star confided in him about lumps in his neck.
"A day or two later he rang me, and he said, 'I've got cancer.' And that was the start of it," Bryan said. "He wasn't hysterical or anything like that. He dealt with it pretty well just straight on, [saying] 'This is what I've got to deal with now. Let's get on with it.'"
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Amid his treatments, Sam Neill has time on his hands to reflect.
"I started to look at my life and realized how immensely grateful I am for so much of it," he 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."
