As cancer treatment’s effectiveness wanes, Sam Neill doesn’t fear death
“It’s out of my control. If you can’t control it, don’t get into it.”
Aux News Sam Neill
Earlier this year, beloved actor and farm animal whisperer Sam Neill revealed he was undergoing treatment for stage-three blood cancer. He’s been in remission for a year, but the good news is far from a clean bill of health. Following three months of unsuccessful chemotherapy, his doctors put him on experimental treatment, a rare cancer drug that requires infusions every two weeks. This isn’t a long-term solution, though. On top of the treatment’s recovery period, its effectiveness will cease at some point, meaning doctors will have to find another alternative. Nevertheless, in a new interview with Australian Story, Neill admits that dying would be “annoying,” and he’s “not remotely afraid” of it. However, retirement “fills me with horror.”
As much as Neill loves spending time with other performers and continuing to work, the Possession actor’s non-Hodgkin blood cancer, angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, isn’t going away. His doctors say when his treatment stops working, they “may need to think about a third-line option.”
“That’s a difficult thing to carry around, day in, day out, waiting for that to happen,” says his hematologist Dr. Orly Lavee.
Neill divulged his cancer diagnosis via his 2023 memoir Did I Ever Tell You This, a project he started writing to avoid thinking about his treatment. And Neill’s cancer treatment sounds particularly brutal. The indefinite infusions beget a “very grim and depressing” recovery period of about four days, leaving Neill with 10 days “in which I could not feel more alive or pleased to be breathing and looking at a blue sky” before returning for more treatment.
“I’m not afraid to die, but it would annoy me,” Neill told The Guardian in March. “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. I want to be around to see it all mature. 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.”
31 Comments
🙁
Honestly one of the best low key A list actors skill wise. He seems typecast as the straight man but he does it so well every time. Hope he gets better. Hes a great guy.
The Mouth of Madness!!
No, Borodin. Not again!Seriously though, cancer fucking sucks.
Oh, cheer up. We all know Borodin survived, got his Phd, and did, indeed, end up in Montana:
stranger thing indeed!
Well he might not be afraid of dying, but dang it, losing him would suck! Can we have nanobots for removing cancer cell-by-cell yet?
It’s tremendously sad news, but I commend that baller attitude towards death. As someone with my own serious health issues, it’s kind of aspirational.
It really is, and as a garden owner and grandparent, I can totally relate.
I’m kind of over everything else.
Best of luck from across the ditch. Keep laughing in the face of the reaper, Mr Neill!
Yes, indeed, more from across the pond…
Where he’s going, he doesn’t need eyes!
Best wishes to you as well.
Thats a very sobbering yet healthy way of looking at it. I only I wish I could that calm about a probable end approaching. I can’t even remember how many times I watched JP as a kid so of course I only have a soft spot for Sam Neill. I wish him the best regardless of what comes next.
I don’t know the intricacies of his battle, but I have a family member who has been receiving these types of infusions for 10+ years. I hope his time of effectiveness lasts for a long time to come.
Insert “Alan!” raptor GIF.
Ah, the Americans need to see this:Good luck, Dr. Chandler.
I hope he sticks around as long as possible. Such a great actor that makes every project better just by showing up.
As I get older, more people I’m used to having around dies. As banal as that sentence is (Can I get a “DUH!”) it hurts me more for each year. I’m grateful that if I keep my health, I have 50-60 years before I kick the bucket.
Sam Neill will always be there for us, on the silver screen. I’m gonna watch Hunt for the Wilderpeople again.
Hopefully Dr Emilio Lizardo will be here soon to be able to put this into perspective for us and parse the science, being an actual oncologist.
or that weird other guy that looks kinda like him…
No not that guy, he will just say something racist
What a bizarre hobby, no?
I’m sure there’s a couple racist oncologists out there.
Dr has said before that he attended medical school but didn’t finish. There’s no way he is an oncologist.
Event Horizon wouldn’t be half as fun without him. I don’t think he’s ever given a role anything less than his all.
Fear is a colossal waste of time, except in the context of accessing adrenalin so you can overpower that guy with the axe or dodge the school bus. It’s largely useless if you simply plan your day wisely.
“Don’t fear the Reaper, Sam!”
*Sam bursts into tears*
…oh wait, wrong Sam…
Noooooooooooo!
Not true. Check his socials.
That’s sad. But it’s October, that means time to watch In the Mouth of Madness and Event Horizon