A little more than six years after he suffered a heart attack, Antonio Banderas gets candid about how things have been since the life-threatening incident. 

During an interview with Fox News Digital, Banderas reflected on what happened in March 2017. “It was a knock at the door for me,” the actor explained about the heart attack. “It could have been very bad. I mean, if people ask me, ‘So, how is it to have a heart attack?’ I don’t know. I can tell you about my own.” 

Antonio Banderas then recalled having to undergo heart surgery following the attack. He had three stents placed in his arteries. He admitted that the situation could have been more serious. “And there are people who have a heart attack that they don’t even know. Sleeping or whatever. And then they feel weird the next day, and they don’t even know what happened. In my case, it was a close call and advice to just really, really, really look at life in a different way. I was just going on the wrong path.”

Antonio Banderas Spoke About Coping With His Split From Ex-Wife Melanie Griffith Before the Heart Attack

Meanwhile, Antonio Banderas also spoke about splitting from his ex-wife Melanie Griffith two years before his heart attack. He admitted that coping with the situation didn’t go very well. 

“I was coming out of my divorce and was confused,” Banderas shared. “It was just doing a lot of things. I’m protecting myself and finding sanctuary in work. Making movies one behind the other. It was crazy. And, so, when I stopped, and I came out of this horse of adrenaline is when my heart said, ‘Pow, stop it.’ It’s not the way. So, do what you want to do.”

After his heart attack, Antonio Banderas decided to “push” the reset button on everything. He went back to his hometown and bought the theater now known as Teatro del Soho. He also opened the Teatro del Soho CaixaBank theater in Málaga.

Along with working on theater projects, Banderas is also starring as King Herod in the upcoming film Journey to Bethlehem. He spoke about what drew him to the project. “I love the end of the story. I loved the way that it was told. When I read the script, I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll get this opportunity here for me to play a villain that actually can make people laugh.”

Journey to Bethlehem is described as a live-action Christmas musical adventure. It shares the story of Mary and Joseph as well as the birth of Jesus.