Sam Neill wants to change the narrative of his recent blood cancer diagnosis, assuring fans that his stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma is in remission and that’s “alive and kicking.”
“My news seems to be all over the news at the moment, and it’s sort of ‘Cancer! Cancer! Cancer!’ which is slightly tiresome because as you see, I am alive and well and I have been in remission for eight months, which feels really good,” the “Jurassic Park” actor said in a video posted on Instagram. “And I’m alive and kicking and I’m going to work.”
After assuring fans that he is doing well, the “Hunt for Red October” actor also revealed that he is “very happy” going back to work in a week to begin production on “Apples Never Fall” alongside Annette Bening.
Neill said that he is lamenting headlines focused on his diagnosis, which he discovered while promoting “Jurassic World Dominion” last year, noting that they missed the “main thing” happening in his life: the upcoming March 21 release of his memoir, titled “Did I Ever Tell You This?,” which the actor wrote over the course of several months in 2022 that were inextricably tied to his diagnosis.
“It does mention cancer because that’s the sort of context in which I wrote it,” Neill said. “But I didn’t really mean to write a book, I needed something to do while I was undergoing treatment, and I am used to going to work and I suddenly couldn’t go to work.”
While Neill admitted he was “very nervous” for its publication as a first-time author, he said there has been “great response,” as “people seem to love it.”
Neill admitted his book was “more entertaining than [he] expected,” as he reflected on recently reading the memoir for the audiobook component. “I would look through the glass window at the audio engineer/producer and he seemed to be cracking up a lot so I take that as a good sign,” he said.
“I hope you enjoy it, and let’s not worry too much about ‘all that’ because I’m fine,” he concluded.
Read Neill’s entire message below or watch the video by clicking here:
Hi I’m Sam Neill, actor of sorts , vintner, and an author as it happens . And my news seems to be all over the news at the moment , and it’s sort of ‘Cancer ! Cancer! Cancer !’ Which is slightly tiresome because as you see , I am alive and well and I have been in remission for eight months , which feels really good. And I’m alive and kicking and I’m going to work. I’m very happy to be going back to work . We start filming in seven days time . I’m doing a thing called ‘Apples Never Fall’ with Annette Bening , and a really wonderful cast . So here I am , and I just wish the headline wasn’t ‘that thing’ so much, because the main thing is that I have written this book , it’s called ‘Did I Ever Tell You This?’. And it does mention cancer because that’s the sort of context in which I wrote it . But I didn’t really mean to write a book, I needed something to do while I was undergoing treatment , and I am used to going to work and I suddenly couldn’t go to work. So that’s why I wrote the book , and I have to say there’s been great response to it. People seem to love it , which is great . I was very nervous , obviously as a first time author . Anyway , I think it’s fun. We sub-titled it ‘Movies , Life , Love and Other Catastrophes . So it gives you an idea of all the crazy things that have happened to me. The tone of the book is one of surprise . I never thought that I would have a career as an actor, let alone an actor on screen . But that’s kind of what happened and I am full of gratitude looking back on this life , and that’s what the book is about . I hope you enjoy it. I enjoyed reading the audiobook the other day , I hadn’t looked at the book for quite a while but I found it more entertaining than I expected. And I would look through the glass window at the audio engineer / producer and he seemed to be cracking up a lot so I take that as a good sign. So I hope you enjoy it , and let’s not worry too much about ‘all that’ because I’m fine . Okay !
