Sam Neill Reveals Which Actor Would Visit Him 'Everyday' in the Hospital Amid Cancer Treatment

Sam Neill found a true friend in actor Bryan Brown .

While speaking on the Wednesday, July 24, episode of the “Big Talk Show” podcast, the Jurassic Park alum spoke about how the Anyone But You star was there for him during his treatment for Stage 3 blood cancer .

Neill, who was diagnosed with cancer in December 2022, told Jess Rowe , “I would be completely lost without friends and old friends are even more precious because they have been through the tough times.”

“I had a spell in hospital and Bryan came in every day. Every day. I thought: ‘That's a real friend,’” the 76-year-old, who is now in remission, added. “He didn't have anything to say, but he came in and kept me company.”

Neill noted how he and Brown are an improbable pairing despite being pals for 40 years.

“Bryan and I have been friends since 1980, I think it is,” he shared. “It's an unlikely friendship because we really have nothing in common. I love him dearly, he's a great family man [and] immensely loyal.”

As for his lengthy treatment, Neill previously said, “I was in, really, a fight for my life . And everything was a new world and a rather alarming world.”

“I had three or four months of reasonably conventional chemotherapies, which are brutal,” he explained.

As OK! previously reported, on Monday, July 8, the healthy and happy celeb was spotted at the Season 2 premiere of The Twelve.

Neill appeared in good spirits about a year after he revealed the blood cancer almost killed him. Despite being cancer-free for now, the star must undergo chemotherapy once per month for the remainder of his life to keep the disease from resurfacing.

Now that his health is in check, Neill joked that dying would " annoy " him.

"I’d really like another decade or two, you know? We’ve built all these lovely terraces, we’ve got these olive trees and cypresses, and I want to be around to see it all mature,” he stated, referring to his New Zealand winery . "And I’ve got my lovely little grandchildren. I want to see them get big. But as for the dying? I couldn’t care less ."

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"I’m not off the hook as such, but there’s no cancer in my body ," he explained at the time, adding that although he had quite the health scare, he's "never felt so well or happy in my life."