Photo: Newspix/Getty
Sam Neilldoesn’t want his supporters to be too worried about his health.
TheJurassic Parkactor, 75 — who opened up abouthis stage 3 blood cancer diagnosisin his new memoirDid I Ever Tell You This?, and in a recent interview withThe Guardian— told fans on Instagram Saturday not to worry about him since he’s “alive and kicking.”
“Hi, I’m Sam Neill! Actor of sorts, vintner, and an author as it happens,” he wrote in his caption and said in a candid selfie video.
Noting how his “news seems to be all over the news at the moment, and it’s sort of, ‘Cancer! Cancer! Cancer!’ " Neill said it “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.”
Neill later gave his followers the rundown on what he’s been up to in recent months — from working on thePeacock seriesApples Never Fallwith actress Annette Bening, to becoming a first-time author.
“I just wish the headline wasn’t ‘that thing’ so much, because the main thing is that I have written this book, it’s calledDid I Ever Tell You This?, and it does mention cancer, because that’s the sort of context in which I wrote it,” he 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.”
“I never thought that I would have a career as an actor, let alone an actor on screen,” he later added. “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.”
Sam Neill inJurassic Park(1993).Amblin/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock
Earlier this week, Neill opened up about being diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and having to undergo chemotherapy once a month, which will likely last for the rest of his life.
As he explained, he learned of his diagnosis after first experiencing swollen glands last March while doing press forJurassic World: Dominion.
“I can’t pretend that the last year hasn’t had its dark moments,” Neill toldThe Guardian. “But those dark momentsthrow the light into sharp relief, you know, and have made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends.”
Just as he did on Instagram, the actor noted that his book — which arrives on March 21 — is not about his cancer, but that the diagnosis is a “spiral thread” throughout.
“The thing is, I’m crook. Possibly dying. I may have to speed this up,” he wrote in the first chapter, perThe Guardian. As he further explained, his new monthly chemo drug has prevented any cancer from returning, despite the chemo itself failing.
Did I Ever Tell You This?hits shelves on Tuesday.
source: people.com
