Sam Neill has been in remission for a year and has resumed his work in acting and winemaking after receiving a diagnosis of rare blood cancer in early 2022.
To manage his condition, Neill undergoes infusions of a drug every two weeks, to which his tumor has responded positively – at least for the time being. He intends to continue this treatment indefinitely, aware that it will eventually cease to be effective. This was revealed by Neill, who is 76 years old, in a 30-minute documentary released on Monday as part of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Australian Story program.
It’s like “going 10 rounds with a boxer, but it’s keeping me alive, and being alive is infinitely preferable to the alternative,” Neill said.
“I’m not, in any way, frightened of dying. It’s never worried me from the beginning. But I would be annoyed because there are things I still want to do,” he said. “Very irritating, dying. But I’m not afraid of it.”
His son Tim Neill-Harrow said in the documentary that his father doesn’t like talking about his illness. “I’m not interested in cancer,” Sam Neill explained. “I’ve got other things on my mind, and it’s not cancer.”
