Jurassic Park actor Sam Neill has revealed that he is being treated for stage-three blood cancer.
The 75-year-old - known to millions around the world as Dr Alan Grant in the blockbuster franchise - has a career spanning almost five decades, with roles in films such as The Hunt For Red October, The Piano and Sleeping Dogs.
Neill discusses his medical condition for the first time in his autobiography Did I Ever Tell You This?, in which he writes: "The thing is, I'm crook. Possibly dying. I may have to speed this up."
Talking to BBC News in an interview to promote the memoir, the actor said that he received his diagnosis a year ago while doing publicity for Jurassic World Dominion.
Neill immediately began chemotherapy but after the standard treatment failed to work, he took a new chemo drug which has now eliminated the tumours.
"I thought I need to do something, and I thought, 'Shall I start writing?'" he said. "I didn't think I had a book in me, I just thought I'd write some stories. And I found it increasingly engrossing.
"A year later, not only have I written the book - I didn't have a ghost writer - but it's come out in record time. I suspect my publishers, they're delightful people, but I think they wanted to get it out in a hurry just in case I kicked the bucket before it was time to release the thing."
He continued: "I'm not afraid of dying. What I don't want to do is to stop living, because I really enjoy living.
"I've regarded it as an adventure, quite a dark adventure, but an adventure nevertheless. And the good days are just fantastic and when you get some good news it's absolutely exhilarating."
Neill's Did I Ever Tell You This? is released on March 23.
Neil Wilkes
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