The Scarface star Al Pacino revealed his near-death experience due to Covid-19 before vaccines were unavailable. The legendary actor spoke with The New York Times during the conversation of the release of his upcoming memoir, ‘Sonny Boy.’
The Academy Award winner revealed his “pulse was gone” after he had a bad reaction to steroids while being treated for a life-threatening Coronavirus infection back in 2020.
Al Pacino told The New York Times, “It was so- you’re here, you’re not. I thought: Wow, you don’t even have your memories. You have nothing. Strange porridge.” He recounted, “what happened was, I felt not good – unusually not good.
Then I had a fever, and I was getting dehydrated and all that. So, I got someone to get me a nurse to hydrate me. I was sitting there in my house, and I was gone like that. I didn’t have a pulse. In a matter of minutes, they were there – the ambulance in front of my house.
I had about six paramedics in that living room, and there were two doctors, and they had these outfits on that looked like they were from outer space or something. It was kind of shocking to open your eyes and see that Everybody was around me, and they said: ‘He’s back. He’s here.”
The actor explained that he “didn’t see the white light or anything,” noting, “There’s nothing there. As Hamlet says, ‘to be or not to be’; ‘The undiscovered country from whose bourn, no traveler returns’. And he says two words: ‘no more’. It was no more. You’re gone. I’d never thought about it in my life. But you know actors: It sounds good to say I died once. What is it when there’s no more?”
As he’s gotten older, the 84-years old noted that his view of death has changed. He shared that he finds some consolation in having children and in knowing that he has a massive body of work that People will go back to after he dies.
“It’s natural, I guess, to have a different view of death as you get older.” Pacino said. “it’s just the way it is. I didn’t ask for it. Just comes, like a lot of things just come.” The celebrity also shared that his work over the past 50 years was kind of a consolation at such a critical moment, and his children were right in front of his eyes.
Al Pacino welcomed his youngest son ‘Roman’ last year with producer Noor Alfallah. Al Pacino is known for his roles in ‘The Godfather’ (1972), ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ (1975), ‘Cruising’ (1980), ‘Scarface’ (1983), ‘Carlito’s Way’ (1993), ‘Heat’ (1995), ‘The Devil’s Advocate’ (1997), ‘The Irishman’ (2019), and ‘House of Gucci’ (2021).
Pacino’s latest movie ‘Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness’ had its world premiere at last week’s 72nd San Sebastian International Film Festival.