New Zealand actor Sam Neill has revealed his battle with stage 3 blood cancer and says he thought he was "possibly dying" at one point.
The 75-year-old and star of movies and shows including Jurassic Park and Peaky Blinders said he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in March last year and had since undergone extensive treatment.
In interviews with UK media including the BBC, previewing his memoir Did I Ever Tell you This?, Neill spoke of his initial reactions to the diagnosis.
"I'm crook, I'm dying," he thought.
However, he's now in remission - thanks to a new chemotherapy drug that he's been taking once a month and will continue to do so indefinitely.
"I can't pretend that the last year hasn't had its dark moments," Neill told The Guardian.
"But those dark moments throw the light into sharp relief, you know, and have made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends.
"[I'm] just pleased to be alive."
Neill told the BBC he now wasn't "interested in anything other than living".
"The last thing I want is for people to obsess about the cancer thing," he said. "Because I'm not really interested in cancer."
Neill's book will be released on March 23.
