Sam Neill, who played Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park with a storied career spanning several decades, including a turn in the Academy Award-winning The Piano (1993) and the horror cult hit Possession (1981), announced he has no fear of death as he battles stage 3 blood cancer.
The Northern Ireland-born actor revealed earlier this year he has been battling cancer since March 2022, calling it “ferocious.”
Speaking with Australian Story, Neill said he has been in a fight for his life after going through months of “brutal” chemotherapy, which stripped him of “any kind of dignity.”
According to his doctor, the cancer became more aggressive after the treatment and Neill decided to keep up the fight. She then prescribed him a “novel” drug that appears to have been working.
File/Actor Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant, with Ariana Richards (left) and Joseph Mazzello (right) as Lex and Tim, in a scene from the film ‘Jurassic Park’, 1993. (Murray Close/Getty Images)
“That was a year ago now, and I have been in remission ever since then, and I’m immensely grateful for that,” Sam Neill said, as reported by Fox News. “It’s not something I can finish, I will be on this for the rest of my life. Every two weeks I go in and get beaten up again. It’s like going 10 rounds with a boxer, but it’s keeping me alive. And being alive is infinitely preferable to the alternative.”
The treatment even allotted the New Zealand-based actor some strength to do some acting work.
“The idea of retirement fills me with horror, actually. To not be able to do the things that you love would be heartbreaking,” he said.
File/Sam Neill on the set of The Hunt of Red October, based on the novel by Tom Clancy, and directed by John McTiernan. (Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
“But I’ve also got to be realistic in that one doctor said to me, ‘This stuff will stop working one day too.’ So I’m prepared for that. I’m ready for it. And I think I’ve done some good things… not all of them have been good. We all have regrets. But I think I can live by myself, and I can die by myself OK.”
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.