Sam Neill said it in 2023, sitting on the porch of his farm in Central Otago, New Zealand, surrounded by his animals and vineyards: “I’m not afraid of dying, but it would upset me. Because I’d like to live another decade or two”. He wanted to see his olive trees, his cypresses, and above all his grandchildren grow up.
The 78-year-old actor had been diagnosed in 2022 with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, an aggressive blood cancer. He fought the disease for five years, with monthly chemotherapy for life, until in April 2026 the news he had been waiting for finally arrived: he was cancer-free thanks to gene therapy.
Just three months later, on July 13, 2026, Neill died suddenly and unexpectedly in Sydney. His family wanted to emphasize something amid the pain: when he passed away, he had already won his most important battle.