Al Pacino revealed on a podcast over the weekend that he almost died during a bout with Covid-19 — a near-death experience that left him pondering his mortality.
Pacino, 84, was plugging his memoir, “Sonny Boy.” on The New York Times’ podcast “The Interview” when he recounted how in 2020 he fell sick at his home from Covid and the situation quickly became dicey.
Pacino said that he had a fever and was dehydrated with a faint pulse and that he lost consciousness.
“I was sitting there at my house, and I was gone. Like that,” Pacino said, audibly snapping his fingers. “I didn’t have a pulse.
“In a matter of minutes, I guess, or whatever it took, they were there,” he added. “I had about six paramedics in that living room, and there were two doctors, and they had these outfits that looked like they were from outer space or something.”
After he regained consciousness, he recalled, “It was kind of shocking to open your eyes and see that. I opened my eyes and everybody was around me — the first time that’s ever happened.” He said medical personnel reacted by saying, “He’s back. He’s here.”
Although he almost died, Pacino said he didn’t remember anything profound when he lost consciousness. “I didn’t see the white light or anything like that,” he said. “There’s nothing there.”
“You’re gone,” Pacino said of his brush with death. “Now I started thinking about that, and I never thought about it in my life. But you know actors, it sounds good to me to say I died once. It felt like death. What is it when there’s no more?”
Throughout his nearly six-decade career, Pacino has cemented himself as one of Hollywood’s leading men with roles such as Michael Corleone in “The Godfather,” Tony Montana in “Scarface” and his Academy Award-winning starring role in 1992’s “Scent of a Woman.”
Pacino made headlines last year when, at age 83, he became a father for the fourth time, welcoming a baby boy named Roman.
