Sam Neill, the acclaimed New Zealand actor, was suffering from pneumonia before his death on Monday, according to a co-star.Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Fellow Kiwi actor Rima Te Wiata, who appeared opposite Neill in the 2016 comedy “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” told the New Zealand Herald that Neill was not scared of dying but that he would be “annoyed” by it.
“It really sucks, actually,” she told the outlet’s video show ‘Ryan Bridge TODAY.’ “I think he would be like: ‘For goodness sake, I got over my cancer.And now look, now I get pneumonia.
What next?’.” But she added: “He’s on his big journey now.”Te Wiata did not offer any more detail and it was unclear how recently Neill may have been sick with pneumonia.Neill’s family announced his death at age 78 on Monday.“The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free,” the family said in a statement, which did not specify a cause of death.
In 2023, Neill wrote in his memoir “Did I Ever Tell You This?” that he was “possibly dying” with stage-three non-Hodgkin lymphoma.But he declared himself cancer-free in April, after several years of treatment for blood cancer.Sam Neill as Dr.
Alan Gran in "Jurassic Park" in 1993.Murray Close / Getty Images fileTributes have poured in globally for Neill, who was best known for his role playing paleontologist Alan Grant in “Jurassic Park” in 1993, alongside actors Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough.Dern called him a “beloved lifetime friend,” in a tribute on Instagram.
“He was a true and noble gentleman, wrapped up in my dream leading man.I will love you forever, Dr.
Alan Grant.” Goldblum said simply: “The next great adventure begins.” Director Steven Spielberg said he “adored making all the Jurassic movies with him ...We will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by ...