Al Pacino has shared his harrowing experience of almost dying from Covid-19 in 2020, revealing he “had no pulse” for several minutes.
In interviews with The New York Times and People, the 84-year-old actor described his battle with the virus before vaccines were available.
“They said my pulse was gone. You’re here, and then you’re not there. I thought, wow, you don’t even have your memories. You have nothing. Strange porridge,” Pacino said The New York Times.
Pacino recalled feeling unusually ill with fever and dehydration before losing consciousness. “I was sitting in my house and then I was gone. Just like that. I had no pulse,” he said.
When paramedics arrived, he woke up surrounded by medical personnel in protective gear.
“They looked like they came from outer space,” Pacino noted. “It was shocking to open my eyes and see them. Then I heard, ‘He’s back.’”
Speaking to People, Pacino wondered if he had really died, despite a nurse confirming his lack of pulse. ‘I thought I had experienced death. But how could I be dead? If I were dead, I would faint.”
Looking back on the experience, he told The New York Times that he “didn’t see the white light” and felt there was “nothing” after death. Quoting Hamlet, he mused, “It was no more. You’re gone.”
Despite this near-death experience, Pacino says it hasn’t changed his outlook on life. “Not at all,” he told People.
Pacino shares more about this event in his upcoming memoir Sonny Boy. His latest film, Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness, premiered last week at the San Sebastián Film Festival.
