His terminally ill sister Connie Johnson has delivered a stinging public reply to his Facebook post announcing he was quitting acting to focus on working fulltime on their charity, Love Your Sister (LYS).
The shock declaration came just days after Samuel had wowed millions of Australians with his stunning portrayal of the much-loved Molly Meldrum in the mini-series Molly.
“Giving up acting Samuel? At 38 years of age? Bit soon wouldn’t you say?” writes Connie on Facebook.
“All power to you but don’t go cutting off your nose to spite your face dear brother. LYS needs you full time, I won’t lie, but I need a Sam with a full belly because I know hangry doesn’t suit you.
“Did you think about this? Were you drunk? There’s no rule against you talking to me before you make such a big decision. You and your tanties, you should’ve grown out of them by now silly.
“So Samuel, let’s talk. In your retirement post you lost your manners a bit. Like most everybody out there, I’ve been known to drop the odd f-bomb myself, but do we really need to do this in public?
“Do I have to bring the swear jar out again? We have worked hard to build a platform from which we can speak and be heard.
“Do you really want to put people off by being crass and, frankly, lazy? Just because swearing is everywhere doesn’t mean you have to say yes to it.
“You might think it gives you street cred but have you thought that it might actually be diluting our message? I’m happy for people to swear as much as they like in our feeds, we all know that cancer makes you want to swear if it does nothing else, but we need to attract corporate support to help us win the war against cancer – that’s all that matters here.
“Wash out your mouth with soap young man and get on with the job. All that being said dear brother, I’m so proud of you and so touched that you would make such a personal sacrifice for me and all the other Aussie’s like me. You really are an ok bloke. I’ll keep you for a bit longer. XXConnie.”
Samuel, 38, has raised $2.3 million for cancer research with his Canberra-based sister Connie, who was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer when she was 33. His most notable fundraiser was a 2013 unicycle world record attempt around Australia.
But the actor has vowed not to return to acting until the charity raises $10 million for breast cancer research and support.
“Gotta pay that Con, as hard as it is to admit!” says Samuel in his Facebook response to Connie’s spray.
“As you know, my emotions override my brain sometimes, but I promise I will tone down the potty. I’m not acting until we hit 10M though. Gotta stand by that one. Go to bed, it’s late. xsambo.”
