Sam Neill.Photo:Jason Mendez/Getty
Jason Mendez/Getty
Sam Neillsays thatPrincess Dianahad a gas at the 1993 London premiere ofJurassic Park— just not in the way he had hoped for.
“There was a royal premiere in London, and it was, it was sort of a fortuitous occasion — you don’t get to sit beside Princess Diana every day,” Neill said.
“But my son was sitting on the other side [of me] and it was kind of unfortunate, because once it starts getting exciting, about 45 minutes in, he was so carried away with things — he was about 10 years old at this point — he started to fart unreasonably.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Neill says the toots weren’t loud — but they were otherwiseverynoticeable.
“It wasn’t that audible, but it was very, very [smelly],” he continued. “And there was sort of a draft through the cinema, and it was all drifting in the Princess’ direction. And I was there in my suit and bowtie and things, sweating like crazy because I thought, ‘The princess is going to think this is me. And it’s this little boy here.' "
Like a good dad, Neill says he didn’t rat out his son.
Princess Diana at the Premiere ofJurassic Park.Alex Bailey/Sygma/Sygma via Getty
Alex Bailey/Sygma/Sygma via Getty
“No, I couldn’t,” he said. “He hates me telling that story, but it’s absolutely true.”
He added with a laugh, “He’s grown now… but I’m never going to another premiere with him!”
Neill is currently making a return to the small screen in the dramatic miniseriesApples Never Fall, oppositeAnnette Bening, streaming March 14 on Peacock. It marks the 10th project he’s been in since being diagnosed with stage 3 blood cancer in 2021.
Sam Neill inJurassic Park.Amblin/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock
In Oct. 2023, the actor spoke toAustralian Storyand gave an update on diagnosis with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
He told the outlet he wasn’t interested in learning everything he could about the disease once he found out he had it.
“I know I’ve got it, but I’m not really interested in it,” he told the outlet. “It’s out of my control. If you can’t control it, don’t get into it.”
After his diagnosis, Neill went through three months of chemotherapy before treatment stopped working and his tumor continued to grow. He then switched to a rare anti-cancer drug, which was successful.
Neill has now been in remission for 15 months. He said he requires infusions every two weeks, indefinitely. The actor admitted that the few days following treatment are “very grim and depressing,” leaving him feeling like he’s “gone 10 rounds with a boxer.”
“But it’s keeping me alive,” he added.
source: people.com
