Sam Neill is being treated for stage 3 blood cancer.
The 75-year-old actor discussed his diagnosis in his new memoir, ‘Did I Ever Tell You This?’, revealing he feared he was dying before the book was even released.
He writes: “The thing is, I’m a crook. Maybe dying. Maybe I should speed things up.”
Sam first started writing the book as a way to keep busy.
The Hollywood star told The Guardian newspaper: “I found myself with nothing to do. And I’m used to working. I like to work. I like going to work. I like being with people every day. days and enjoying human company and friendship and all those things. And suddenly I was deprived of it. And I thought, ‘what am I going to do?’
“I never intended to write a book. But as I wrote, I realized that it actually gave me a reason to live and I would go to bed thinking: “I’ll write about it tomorrow…it will amuse me. And so it really saved my life, because I couldn’t have gone through that without doing anything, you know.”
Sam is cancer free, but he will continue to take a new chemotherapy drug for the rest of his life.
The actor – who played Dr Alan Grant in the ‘Jurassic Park’ film franchise – insists he is “just happy to be alive”.
He said: “I can’t pretend that last year didn’t have its dark moments.
“But those dark times bring light, you know, and made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends. Just happy to be alive.”
