“My news seems to be all over the news at the moment and it’s kind of ‘Cancer! Cancer! Cancer!’ which is kind of tiring because as you can see I’m alive and well,” he said in a short video posted on 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 TV adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s novel “Apples Never Fall”.
The news of his cancer emerged amid publicity for his upcoming memoir, titled “Have I Ever Told You This?”, to be released Tuesday, which chronicles his diagnosis.
“The thing is, I’m a villain. Possibly dying, I might have to speed this up,” he writes in the opening chapters, according to the Guardian, which published an interview with him on Friday.
He said the book had given him a project to work on while he was in treatment last year.
“I’m used to going to work and suddenly I couldn’t go to work — so that’s why I wrote the book,” he said in Saturday’s Instagram video. “Of course I was very nervous as a first-time writer.”
He described the tone of the book as a “surprise” as he never expected to pursue a career as an actor on screen.
Best known for playing palaeontologist Alan Grant in the blockbuster Dinosaur film franchise Neill told the Guardian that he first noticed swollen glands while promoting “Jurassic World: Dominion” in 2022.
He was later diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and said he undertook chemotherapy and started a new chemotherapy drug that he will take monthly for the rest of his life.
The cancer may be more common in the elderly, and symptoms may include high fever, skin rash and autoimmune disorders, in which the body’s immune system attacks its own cells and tissues, according to the US-based Lymphoma Research Foundation. Treatment may include a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and bone marrow or stem cell transplants.
“Not sure if it was the cancer news or when they mentioned you’re 75 that shocked me more,” one relieved fan wrote in response to Neill’s video.
“Jurassic Park is my favorite movie and you’re my favorite actor. I’m glad you’re doing better/well and I can’t wait to dig into this book,” said another.
The award-winning actor from Northern Ireland and New Zealand has also in recent years turned his hand to raising animals on his New Zealand farm and is a wine farmer, as well as playing cricket and his ukulele, he says.
“I am full of gratitude when I look back on this life,” he said. “Let’s not worry too much about ‘all that,'” he added, referring to his health, “because I’m fine—all right!”