The Twelve star Sam Neill opens up about his ‘grim’ cancer battle

Sam Neill reveals how his recent health scare affected him and has opened up about his near miss with the legal profession, ahead of the return of The Twelve.

Even when he’s on his own, Sam Neill likes to surround himself with the people he likes and admires most.

That’s why every square inch of the acclaimed actor’s Sydney office is adorned with photographs of friends, family and colleagues (along with the odd arty shot of eccentric strangers he’s met along the way in his 50-plus years in showbiz).

While back home on his vineyard in New Zealand’s picturesque Central Otago, Neill has named his menagerie of livestock after his castmates. There’s a chicken named Meryl Streep, his co-star in the 1988 movie Evil Angels. A cow called Helena Bonham Carter (who first worked with him on Merlin). And a strutting rooster bears the moniker Michael Fassbender in honour of his swarthy scene partner in Angel.

“Annette Bening, who I worked with last year [on Apples Never Fall] is now a pig,” he hazards with a mischievous smile.

“She was perfectly happy with being a spotted pig, although it doesn’t resemble her in any way in real life. They are very hairy.”

Neill is now contemplating adding his The Twelve co-star Frances O’Connor to the farmyard honour roll too.

Asked which animal he might have earmarked for the Perth-raised actor, and Neill offers diplomatically: “I think she could put her hand up and nominate one herself.”

Neill has enjoyed reuniting with O’Connor who he worked with previously on the 2011 film, The Hunter.

Kaila Perrelli, Sam Neill, Frances O’Connor and Jennah Bannear in season two of The Twelve. Picture: David Dare Parker

O’Connor joins the new season of The Twelve as defence lawyer Meredith Nelson-Moore, while Neill reprises his role Brett Colby, the smooth talking and unflappable Kings Counsel he played in the award-winning 2022 first series.

This time the two barristers are defending an estranged couple accused of murdering a local landowner in the fictional rural community of Tunkwell. And when court is not in session, Meredith and Colby are enjoying trysts at the local motel.

The new series was filmed on location in the rural township of York in West Australia which Neill reflects: “was frozen in time in about 1910.

“It was a beautiful little place but very quiet. There was no night-life. Everything closed about 8pm so if you wanted to eat out together you had to do it early.”

It’s a testament to Neill’s tenacity and enthusiastic spirit that he was filming at all, let alone looking to go out socialising with his cast and crew after the cameras stopped rolling.

Diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma in March 2022 after noticing swollen glands in his neck while doing the publicity tour for Jurassic World Dominion, the Kiwi star was still undergoing gruelling treatment while filming The Twelve.

“It just meant that every second week it was a case of forget about the weekend because that would be a bit grim,” he shrugs.

“But other than that, it’s great to be alive and working and in beautiful places, like York.”

Sam Neill shares cancer update on Australian Story. Picture: ABC

Country towns often make great backdrops for compelling crime stories with Neill citing Boy Swallows Universe (featuring his close friend Bryan Brown), Mystery Road and The Dry starring Eric Bana, as recent examples of great Aussie whodunits he has devoured. While he admits to being a sucker for a good binge watch, Neill hates a spoiler and likes to be kept in a state of suspense right up to the last minute.

He applies the same approach to his work on The Twelve, avoiding reading the final scripts until just before filming, for fear that knowing the whole story might impact his performance.

Of course, discovering whodunit, isn’t the only source of intrigue in The Twelve which Neill says “is distinct from other crime shows because it’s very much more character driven.

“There’s interweaving stories give it a give it a sort of dynamic that you don’t often find.

“The way it explores the jury – which we like to think of as a blank canvas – but of course every member of every jury has their own story, their own dramas and their own quandaries.”

In addition to putting the jurors under the microscope, the upcoming chapter also “fleshes out” Colby a lot more with Neill joking: “You see a lot of him outside of the court to and some of his private life (which you may not want to see).”

Colby is just the latest in a long line of memorable roles that Neill has played over his impressive career.

While Jurassic Park and Peaky Blinders are universally popular topics of discussion for his fans, Neill smiles that Melburnians tend to be more fixated on more niche films like Death in Brunswick or The Dish.

“Someone told me recently that I’ve done 150 tele shows and movies – that’s quite a lot,” he says.

“I’ve been doing it for 50 years, so I am beginning to forget the names now. I don’t have any favourites because It’s sort of like saying: ‘Well, I didn’t like that other one so much’.”

Sam Neill studied law for a year at university. Picture: David Dare Parker

Despite his success in Hollywood, Neill is always looking for roles that will bring him back down under.

And he’s always looking to try something new. That’s why The Twelve was so enticing. While Neill has appeared in a few legal dramas over the years, before The Twelve he had not played a lawyer, which in some ways was a fulfilment of a youthful ambition.

“I think I am a frustrated barrister, really,” he explains.

“I did a year of law [at university] and hardly passed a thing. I was a complete wash out. I was too busy doing plays and talking to girls in the cafeteria. All the good stuff.”

Neill believes it’s a pity that legal studies are so dry given the profession itself is so colourful.

“You’re just learning case after case after case like a parrot,” he says.

“I don’t know how people get through it. I couldn’t. It was dull as dishwater.”

His interest in criminal law has never abated though and, like countless others, Neill has followed the recent trial of Donald Trump with a keen interest.

Sam Neill accepts his Logie Award for The Twelve at last year’s ceremony. Picture: Channel 7

Likewise, many of his good friends are lawyers and Neill can see some parallels between acting and making a case in court.

“It is a performative business being a barrister,” he says.

“And if you are no good on your feet you should stay a solicitor.”

Although he based his performance in The Twelve on some of his New Zealand barrister mates, Neill says none have noticed any similarities between themselves and Colby. And that may not be a bad thing.

With a signature wry smile Neill notes: “I am not sure that it was a complimentary performance because Colby is a terrible old windbag.”

The Twelve, streaming from July 11, Binge and available on Hubbl

Originally published as The Twelve star Sam Neill opens up about his ‘grim’ cancer battle