Sam Neill’s Cancer Journey and His Fight for Access to Life-Saving Treatment
Legendary actor Sam Neill has shared a heartfelt update about his battle with cancer and the treatment that saved his life. Now, he is advocating for others to have access to the same life-changing therapy.
In an exclusive interview, the beloved actor revealed the lifesaving treatment that gave him a second chance. “I’ve been living with a particular type of lymphoma for about five years, and I was on chemotherapy and the pretty miserable business, but it was keeping me alive,” he said.
“Then the chemo stopped working. I was at a loss, and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn’t ideal, obviously.” This isn’t news for fans of the Kiwi actor, who shared back in 2023 that his chemotherapy failed. However, not only that, but the anti-cancer drug he was taking would only put him into remission for over 12 months and would eventually stop working.
At the time, he told Australian Story that he was “prepared” for that day. He went on to say that, while, yes, dying would be “annoying,” he’s “not remotely afraid” of it.
Happily, it wasn’t the end of his story, thanks to what Sam calls “science at its best.”
The Treatment That Changed Everything
The only treatment left for Sam was CAR T-cell therapy. This involves genetically modifying blood cells. The cells are able to recognise the cancerous cells in the blood and attack them. Sam’s clinical trial was successful.
“I’ve just had a scan just now, and there is no cancer in my body; that’s an extraordinary thing,” Sam shared.
Now, Sam is calling on the government to help more blood cancer patients access the lifesaving treatment. The treatment is pricey (about $750,000 privately and only available in clinical trials). Regulatory authorities have approved it, but it is awaiting the final steps before rolling out across the country.
When Did Sam Neill First Share That He Had Cancer?
In early 2023, the New Zealand actor revealed that he had been quietly battling stage three blood cancer. The news came just days before the release of the Jurassic Park actor’s memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, on March 23.
The Guardian was the one to reveal the actor’s health battle, as they reported that the opening chapter of his book contained the line, “The thing is, I’m crook. Possibly dying. I may have to speed this up.” This, understandably, led to concerns from fans, which led to Sam taking to Instagram with a video message. He reassured his followers that he was “fine” and they shouldn’t “worry too much.”
A Message of Hope and Resilience
In his video, he said, “I’m alive and kicking, and I’m going to work, and I’m very happy to be going back to work. Here I am, and I wish the headline wasn’t that thing because the main thing is that I have written this book, it’s called Did I Ever Tell You This? And it does mention cancer because that’s the sort of context in which I wrote it. 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, but I suddenly couldn’t go to work. So that’s why I wrote the book, and I have to say there’s been a great response to it. People seem to love it, which is great.”
Support from Fans and Fellow Actors
Many well-known names took to the comments of Sam’s Instagram video to send their love. Teresa Palmer gave a nod to Sam’s title, as he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Queen’s Birthday Honours, for his services as an actor. “Class act sir, we love you!” the actress wrote.
More tributes followed from the likes of Rebecca Gibney, Lisa Wilkinson, and Magda Szubanski. Magda also shared some happy cancer news recently.
Focusing on Life Beyond Cancer
“I’m not really interested in anything other than living,” Sam said following his Instagram video. “Following my Instagram video, Sam went on to tell the BBC that he hopes his cancer diagnosis doesn’t outshine his memoir. ‘The last thing I want is for people to obsess about the cancer thing because I’m not really interested in cancer. I’m not really interested in anything other than living.’”
The Weekly last spoke to Sam in June 2022. At the time, he told us that while publishers had approached him over the years, he’s always said no. “My excuse is, look, nothing much happened, and if it did, I can’t remember it,” he said at the time. “But I did admit that I had begun ‘tootling around, starting to commit things to my computer.’ ‘Sort of writing stories of my life and things,’ he said at the time. ‘Not that people will be particularly interested. But it’s interesting that once you start to remember things, other memories start triggering. They’re all there in the back of your head. So, it turns out that quite a lot of things happened. And I do remember.’”
What’s Next for Sam Neill?
“It’s time I did another movie,” he said to 7NEWS.
