Sam Neill opens up about ‘brutal’ cancer treatment two years after his diagnosis

Sam Neill has detailed the ‘brutal’ chemotherapy side-effects of his rare blood cancer.

In the ABC series The Assembly, which premieres August 20, the New Zealand actor candidly opens up about his treatment journey.

The Jurassic Park star – who is now in remission – underwent chemotherapy after his 2022 diagnosis before switching to a new chemotherapy drug when it began to fail.

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“I’m on a different one now, so at least I don’t look like somebody’s bald thumb,” Neill said in the forthcoming episode.

“That’s what I looked like for quite a while – it was embarrassing, and I lost my beard and everything, and my dignity went with it.”

Neill was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, after first experiencing swollen glands as a symptom in March 2022.

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Jurassic Park cast: Then and now

The actor shared his heartbreaking diagnosis with the world a year later in early 2023 ahead of his memoir Did I Ever Tell You This? release.

Neill told The Guardian he will receive the new chemotherapy drug monthly for the rest of his life.

In a health update posted to Instagram in October, the Peaky Blinders star assured he is “firmly in remission, and plan to remain so for years to come.”

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Neill recently sat down with Today hosts Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo in July to discuss his health and new projects in the works.

The actor admitted he was “feeling absolutely great” and has been in remission for two and a half years now.

“The thing about cancers, there’s so many different of them, you know and great advances are being made, so there’s always hope and I’m living with it rather than dying from it, that’s the way I look at it,” he said.

The star also opened up about how writing his book helped him through his diagnosis admitting the project “saved [his] life” after he had no work.

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