Beloved actor Sam Neill reveals it’s ‘great to be alive’ as he offers health update

Despite facing a daunting battle with cancer, renowned actor Sam Neill has revealed that it feels “great to be alive” as he offers fans an update on his health.

Neill, best known for his roles in Jurassic Park and the popular Aussie drama series The Twelve, shocked fans last year when he revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 blood cancer in his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?

The 76-year-old has been undergoing treatment since then, and while Neill acknowledges the challenges of the treatment, he recently told the Herald Sun that he is embracing the opportunity to continue working.

“It just meant that every second week it was a case of forget about the weekend because that would be a bit grim,” he said of his treatment

“But other than that, it’s great to be alive and working and in beautiful places, like York.”

Neill’s passion for his work has remained unwavering despite his diagnosis with the star recently admitting that retirement is a notion he steadfastly refuses to entertain.

“I’m not in any way frightened of dying. That doesn’t worry me. It’s never worried me from the beginning, but I would be annoyed,” he previously told Australian Story.

“I’d be annoyed because there are things I still want to do. Very irritating, dying. But I’m not afraid of it.

“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, and 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.”

Neill’s impressive career spans more than 50 years with leading roles in films such as My Brilliant Career (1979), Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981), A Cry in the Dark (1988), Dead Calm (1989), The Hunt For Red October (1990), The Piano (1993), and In the Mouth of Madness (1994). Neill gained global acclaim for his portrayal of Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993), a character he reprised in Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022).