Sam Neill says remission from blood cancer is likely temporary

Sam Neill has revealed that his year-long remission from stage three blood cancer is likely temporary, as the chemotherapy drug he is currently receiving will eventually stop working.

In an interview with Australian Story, the actor shared that he’s made peace with his mortality because it’s out of his control. Instead, Neill is more concerned about making the most of the time he does have left.

“I’m not in any way frightened of dying,” he said. “That’s never worried me from the beginning. But I would be annoyed because there are things I still want to do.”

This past March, Neill revealed his initial attempts at chemotherapy for angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma were unsuccessful, but switching to his current treatment caused his cancer to go into remission.

Australian Story described Neill’s treatments as like going “10 rounds with a boxer,” making the few days after feel “very grim and depressing.” However, once the sickness lifts, he experiences 10 days in which he “could not feel more alive or pleased to be breathing and looking at a blue sky.”

According to Neill’s hematologist, Dr. Orly Lavee, the plan is to “think about a third line option” once the current treatment stops working.

In the meantime, Neill checked off one box earlier this year by publishing a memoir titled Did I Ever Tell You This?

With retirement “completely out of the question,” he also has a few projects that are currently on hold due to the SAG-AFTRA strike: an adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s novel, Apples Never Fall, co-starring Annette Bening and the next season of the Australian TV series The Twelve.