Sam Neill has revealed that Australian actor Bryan Brown was one of his biggest supporters during his treatment for stage three blood cancer, after the Jurassic Park star was diagnosed with the disease in 2022.
Talking to Jess Rowe about her Great talk show In a podcast on Wednesday, the 76-year-old, who is now in remission, said it was dear friends like Bryan, 77, who were his pillars of strength.
“I would be completely lost without friends and old friends are even more valuable because they have been through tough times,” Sam said.
“I was in the hospital for a while and Bryan came in every day. Every day. I thought, ‘That’s a real friend.'”
“I had nothing to say, but he came in and kept me company.”
Sam added that even though the pair have very little in common, their friendship has lasted more than 40 years.
“Bryan and I have been friends since 1980, I think,” he said.
Sam Neill, left, has revealed that iconic Australian actor Bryan Brown, right, was one of his biggest supporters during his treatment for stage three blood cancer after the Jurassic Park star was diagnosed with the disease in 2022.
“It’s an unlikely friendship because we don’t really have anything in common. I love him very much, he’s a great family man and he’s immensely loyal.”
Sam discovered he had stage three blood cancer in 2022 during his first trip back to New Zealand, after lockdowns made returning home to see his family virtually impossible for two years.
His son Tim told ABC Australian History His father had only been back in New Zealand for an hour when a doctor called him with the terrible news that he had cancer.
“When he got off the phone, we sat down and cried a little bit together. It was supposed to be a happy day. He couldn’t stay,” Tim said.
Sam continued: “I was really in a fight for my life. And it was all a new world and a pretty scary world.
“I had three or four months of reasonably conventional chemotherapy, which was brutal.”
The star was diagnosed with the disease in 2022. Speaking to Jess Rowe on her Big Talk Show podcast on Wednesday, the 76-year-old, who is now in remission, said it was dear friends like Bryan, 77, who were his pillars of strength.