Antonio Banderas says having a heart attack was the best thing to ever happen to him in his life
Ali Condon
Featured Image Credit: NurPhoto SRL / Alamy Stock Photo/ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo
Antonio Banderas has said that suffering from a heart attack was probably the best thing that ever happened to him - and this guy got to star in the best film of all time, Shrek 2, so that's saying a lot!
The award-winning actor has spoken before about his horrific heart attack, but now believes that the near-death experience actually gave him a new lease on life.
In fact, the incident moved Antonio, 62, so much that it was actually the inspiration behind his latest film Puss In Boots: The Last Wish.
The animated flick, in which Antonio play the sword-wielding Puss for the fifth time, delves into the touchy subject of mortality - pretty heavy going for a Shrek spin-off, I know.
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In the new film, Puss will find himself on the last of his nine lives, and setting out on an epic journey in the hopes of restoring all nine in the hopes of living a longer life.
Antonio once found himself on the brink of death back in 2017, when a heart attack sent him straight to the hospital.
"It probably was one of the best things that happened in my life. It was like putting glasses on and seeing what was important," the Spanish-native told Radio Times.
"Since my heart attack, I’m looking only for the pleasure of acting. That’s it. I don’t care about anything else.
"For me, life starts when somebody says, 'Action!' – or when the curtain comes up."
Antonio credits his survival to his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel, 40, who saved his life by giving him asprin.
According to the NHS, chewing on and swallowing a tablet of aspirin (ideally 300mg) can be a life-saving treatment while waiting for an ambulance, as it helps to thin the blood and improves the blood flow to the heart.
Recounting the story on Jimmy Kimmel Live a few years back, Antonio shared: "She bought this aspirin, which is the only thing that she found and she found the maximum one, I think it was five milligrams.
"The next morning, when I started having the symptoms and I clearly knew what was going on, she put one of those aspirins inside of my tongue and that saved my life.
"So I had a second chance, and some stuff changed in my life, since then."