The 'Jurassic Park' actor would love to see his grandchildren grow up but he's not scared of death after announcing his battle with stage-three blood cancer.
- Mar 19, 2023
AceShowbiz - Sam Neill is not scared of death. The 75-year-old actor - who recently announced that he's received treatment for stage-three blood cancer - isn't afraid of dying, but he'd still love to live for "another decade or two."
"I'm not afraid to die, but it would annoy me. Because 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," Sam told the Guardian newspaper.
Sam is now cancer-free - but his health scare has led him to become more introspective. He shared, "It's much easier to identify who other people are, but you hardly ever ask the question of yourself, who am I? You know, [when I was sick] I would look in the mirror and see a completely different person, not a hair on my head, no eyelashes, the beard had fallen off on a pillow somewhere in hospital. I was unrecognisable."
"I would look at this alien … Really? Is that you? So that begs the question, who are you? And so I had to think about that. I mean, it's never really interested me to sort of reflect on myself. You know, sometimes you go, you f****** idiot, why would you do that? But that would be as bad as it would be."
Sam discusses his cancer diagnosis in his new memoir, "Did I Ever Tell You This?". The actor confesses in the book that he feared passing away before it was even released. He wrote, "The thing is, I'm crook. Possibly dying. I may have to speed this up."
