Three years before his tragic death at the age of 78, Jurassic Park star Sam Neill said he would be “frustrated” if he died.
“It’s going to be frustrating because there’s still things I want to do,” he explained on ABC’s “Australian Story” in October 2023.
But Neil, who was battling cancer at the time, said he was “never afraid of dying” and that death “never worried (him) from the beginning”.
“I’m not afraid of it,” he added.
Neil echoed the same sentiment in an interview with the Guardian in March 2023.
“I’m not scared of dying,” he said. “But it’s frustrating. Because you want another 10 or 20 years, right?”
The Peaky Blinders alum says she wants to live long enough to enjoy her farm in Central Otago, New Zealand, and see her “cute little grandchildren” grow up.
But Neil reiterated that “I can’t ignore” the idea of dying.
His family announced his death on Monday, just two months after Neal announced he was cancer-free after a battle with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.
“Sam passed away surrounded by his family and with the dignity that characterized his life,” his loved ones wrote on Instagram.
“Although the death was sudden and unexpected, the fact that Sam did not have cancer was a blessing,” the statement continued.
Neil spoke about being diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in his 2023 memoir Did I Ever Tell You This?
In his book, he revealed that he first noticed the swollen glands in March 2022 while working on press for Jurassic World Dominion.
The actor underwent chemotherapy, but after it stopped working, he took part in a clinical trial for a type of CAR-T therapy that destroys cancer cells.
“I just had a test and there was no cancer in my body, which is amazing,” Neil said in an interview with Australia’s Network 7 News in April.
Neil also talked about wanting to get back to work and said with a smile, “It’s time to make the next movie.”
Neil’s career spans over 50 years and includes over 150 acting credits.
He is best known for playing paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s hit series Jurassic Park, a role he reprized in 2001’s Jurassic Park III and 2022’s Jurassic World: Dominion.
Neil has acting credits in the upcoming 2027 films Godzilla X Kong: Supernova and The Last Resort.
