Sam Neill has revealed he has named his farm animals after A-list celebrities.
The Hollywood star, 78, who has a property in central Otago in New Zealand, raises chickens, pigs and cows named after Angelica Houston, Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep.
In comments published by New Idea magazine this week, Sam said it is an ‘insurance policy’ of sorts for the pets.
‘It’s an insurance policy. Because if you name a chicken Meryl Streep, in all fairness, you can’t eat Meryl Streep,’ he explained.
According to the report, other celebrity namesakes on the farm include Laura Der and Charlie Pickering.
Sam Neill has revealed he has named his farm animals after A-list celebrities
The beloved actor shocked his fans in March this year when he revealed he was batting stage-three blood cancer in his book.
In an interview with The Guardian, he said: ‘The thing is, I’m crook. Possibly dying.’
Neill also told the BBC he has had ‘a ferocious type of aggressive’ non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
He began writing his memoir as a distraction and to ‘give me a reason to get through the day’.
The Hollywood star, 78, who has a property in central Otago in New Zealand , raises chickens, pigs and cows named after Angelica Houston, Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep
Sam believe it is an ‘insurance policy’ of sorts for the pets. ‘It’s an insurance policy. Because if you name a chicken Meryl Streep, in all fairness, you can’t eat Meryl Streep,’ he said
Neill said he sought medical treatment after noticing that he had lumpy glands on his neck while doing a publicity tour last year for the film Jurassic World Dominion.
The Piano star stayed calm when doctors told him of his diagnosis, and he immediately began plotting to write a book of his life.
‘I thought I need to do something, and I thought, ‘Shall I start writing?’ he told the BBC.
‘I didn’t think I had a book in me, I just thought I’d write some stories. And I found it increasingly engrossing.
‘A year later, not only have I written the book – I didn’t have a ghostwriter – but it’s come out in record time,’ he said proudly.
The beloved actor shocked his fans in March this year when he revealed he was batting stage-three blood cancer in his book
Sam’s specific ailment was diagnosed as angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.
He is now in remission but will be on chemotherapy medication for the rest of his life.
Reflecting on life, the seasoned actor admitted, ‘I’m not afraid to die. But it would annoy me. Because 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. 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.’
He began writing his memoir as a distraction and to ‘give me a reason to get through the day’. He is now in remission but will be on chemotherapy medication for the rest of his life