Sam Neill has said he has "never felt better" after revealing he has been in remission from blood cancer for several months.
The 75-year-old New Zealand actor, who was born in Co Tyrone, is best known for his role as palaeontologist Alan Grant in the science-fiction film series Jurassic Park.
In an interview about his book, Did I Ever Tell You This?, he recounted that he first experienced swollen glands during publicity for Jurassic World Dominion in March last year.
Neill took a break from acting following his diagnosis of stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the Guardian reported.
He was asked on BBC Radio 2's the Michael Ball Show on Sunday about how he is doing and said: "Well, I'm great, you know. I've been about seven or eight months in remission, and I'm back at work, and I've never felt better."
He added: "I sort of approached the year as really being a bit of an adventure...[as] I didn't know what was [going to] happen.
"A bit of a dark adventure but here we are on the other side, and I'm very optimistic and full of life and I'm so happy to be back at work, I can't tell you."
In his memoir, Neill reportedly writes about receiving chemotherapy that started to fail. He then began taking a new chemotherapy drug that he will take monthly for the rest of his life, despite now being cancer-free.
However, Neill has said it is not a cancer book but a collection of stories about his life.
He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in the 1980s series Reilly, Ace of Spies and an Emmy as the titular wizard in 1998's Merlin opposite Fight Club actress Helena Bonham Carter and Star Wars voice actor James Earl Jones, known for portraying Darth Vader.
Neill also starred in the Oscar-winning period drama The Piano and alongside Cillian Murphy in the BBC crime drama Peaky Blinders.
The actor said his career has been a "great surprise" that continued when he got his most recent part in the upcoming series Apples Never Fall, based on a novel by Liane Moriarty and starring American Beauty actress Annette Bening.
"I think I have been extremely blessed because it wasn't something I sought," he added. "It just sort of happened by degrees and surprise followed surprise."
He also said the seven-part show "could be really rather wonderful" but he never counts his chickens before they are hatched.
Australian author Moriarty also wrote Big Little Lies, which was adapted into a hit HBO series starring The Hours actress Nicole Kidman and Legally Blonde star Reese Witherspoon.
Did I Ever Tell You This? is published on 23 March.
Source: Press Association
