Jurassic Park star Sam Neill, 78, reveals how close he was to death amid cancer battle after chemo ‘stopped working’

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Jurassic Park actor Sam Neill, who is battling cancer, has shared a moving account of his health struggles, revealing just how seriously ill he became when chemotherapy treatment stopped being effective.

The renowned 78-year-old actor, now in remission from cancer, recently shared details about his five-year struggle with stage-three blood cancer in an interview with 7 News Australia.

Neill shared that he’s been battling a type of lymphoma for around five years. He underwent chemotherapy, which he described as difficult, but it was helping him stay alive.

When the chemo stopped being effective, I honestly felt completely lost. It became clear things were taking a very serious turn, and let’s just say, it wasn’t a good situation to be in.

Actor Sam Neill, famous for his role as Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park movies, has announced he’s now cancer-free. He credits a new, advanced treatment called CAR T-cell therapy, which involves modifying a patient’s own blood cells to fight the disease.

He shared some incredible news: a recent scan showed no signs of cancer. He was overjoyed and said it felt amazing.

As someone who’s been closely following advancements in cancer treatment, I’m incredibly excited about CAR T-cell therapy. It’s a really innovative, personalized approach where doctors take your own immune cells – T-cells – and genetically engineer them to specifically hunt down and destroy cancer. Right now, it’s proving most effective against certain types of blood cancers, according to the experts at the National Cancer Institute, but the potential is huge!

The treatment is currently in clinical trials to treat another blood cancer, myeloma.

The hematologist explained to 7 News that they essentially supercharge a patient’s immune cells, allowing them to finally identify and destroy the myeloma cancer cells that were previously hidden from the immune system.

With his new lease on life, Neill is now planning to make a return to acting.

He said: ‘It’s time I did another movie.’ 

I was so saddened to hear about Neill’s battle with cancer. He first shared his diagnosis with everyone in 2023, but it actually started the year before. He’d noticed some swelling in his glands, and after tests, he found out it was angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. It’s been heartbreaking to follow his journey.

He discovered he had stage-three blood cancer while he was promoting Jurassic World Dominion in 2022.

He returned to play Grant in the movie, reuniting with original cast members Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, and joined by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.

I remember him saying on Australian Story that he wasn’t scared of death at all – it honestly never bothered him. But he admitted he would be irritated by it, which I always found strangely comforting and very him.

It bothers me that I still have goals and dreams I want to achieve. The thought of dying is frustrating, but I’m not scared of it.

In his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This, Neill first revealed he was seriously ill, stating in the opening chapter that he was ‘possibly dying’.

Neill’s specific ailment was diagnosed as angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.

Symptoms can include having a high fever, night sweats, skin rash, and autoimmune disorders.

Looking back on his life, the experienced actor reiterated that he wasn’t afraid of death, explaining, ‘I don’t fear dying, but it would bother me. I’d really enjoy having another ten or twenty years, if possible.’

I’ve put a lot of work into creating these beautiful terraces and planting olive and cypress trees, and I’d really like to be here to watch everything grow and flourish. Plus, I have wonderful grandchildren, and I want to see them grow up too.

‘But as for the dying? I couldn’t care less.’

The actor and Noriko Watanabe, a makeup artist from Japan, were married for 28 years, from 1989 to 2017. They have two children together: Elena, age 35, and Tim, age 43.

I’ve been a huge fan of Jeff Goldblum’s work for years, and I was thrilled to see him in so many of the Jurassic Park movies! He was fantastic in the very first one back in 1993, and it was great to see him return for Jurassic Park III in 2001, and most recently in Jurassic World Dominion in 2022. Three films – it’s amazing!

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2026-04-28 21:22