Sam Neill has shared that he's being treated for stage-three blood cancer.
The New Zealand actor was on a promotional tour for Jurassic World Dominion in March 2022 when he first "experienced swollen glands". Soon after, he was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.
Neill is currently penning a memoir, with his illness being a "spiral thread" through the story.
Speaking to The Guardian about it, he shared how he began writing the book during treatment, noting how his memories kept him company.
Watch the trailer for Sam Neill's new film, The Portable Door. Post continues after video.
"I found myself with nothing to do," he told the publication.
"And I’m used to working. I love working. I love going to work. I love being with people every day and enjoying human company and friendship and all these things. And suddenly I was deprived of that. And I thought, 'what am I going to do?'"
"I never had any intention to write a book," he continued.
"But as I went on and kept writing, I realised it was actually sort of giving me a reason to live and I would go to bed thinking, 'I’ll write about that tomorrow… that will entertain me."
It became a "lifesaver".
"I couldn’t have gone through that with nothing to do, you know?" Neill added.
Beyond his diagnosis, the 75-year-old writes about his career in film and television, the inner workings of celebrity culture, growing up on a farm in New Zealand and his own mortality.
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