“My news seems to be all over the news right now, and it’s kind of ‘cancer! cancer! cancer!’ which is kinda annoying because as you can see I’m alive and well,” he said in a short video posted to Instagram.
Neill, 75, told fans he had been in remission for eight months “which feels really good”. He added that he was working on an upcoming television adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s novel “Apples Never Fall”.
The news of her cancer came during the publicity for her upcoming memoir, ‘Did I Ever Tell You This?’, due out on Tuesday, which mentions her diagnosis.
“The thing is, I’m a crook. Maybe dying, maybe I should speed things up,” he wrote in the opening chapters, according to the Guardian, which published an interview with him on Friday.
He said the book provided a project to work on while he undertook treatment last year.
“I used to go to work, and I suddenly couldn’t go to work – that’s why I wrote the book,” he said in Saturday’s Instagram video. “I was very nervous, obviously, as a first-time author.”
He described the tone of the book as one of “surprise”, as he did not expect to have a career as an on-screen actor.
Best known for playing paleontologist Alan Grant in the blockbuster dinosaur movie franchise, Neill told the Guardian he first noticed swollen glands while advertising for “Jurassic World: Dominion” in 2022.
He was later diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and said he had undergone chemotherapy and started a new chemotherapy drug, which he must take monthly for the rest of his life. .
The cancer may be more common in older people and symptoms can include high fevers, skin rashes and autoimmune disorders, where the body’s immune system attacks its own cells and tissues, according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation, based in the United States. UNITED STATES. Treatment may include a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and bone marrow or stem cell transplants.
“I don’t know if it was the cancer news or when they mentioned you were 75 that shocked me the most,” a relieved fan wrote in response to Neill’s video.
“Jurassic Park is my favorite movie and you my favorite actor. Glad you’re better/well and can’t wait to dig into this book,” another said.
The award-winning actor from Northern Ireland and New Zealand has also turned to animal husbandry on his New Zealand farm in recent years and is a winemaker, as well as playing cricket and his ukulele, he said.
“I am full of gratitude looking back on this life,” he said. “Let’s not worry too much about ‘all that stuff’,” he added, in reference to his health, “because I’m fine – okay!”
