Al Pacino has shared his view on what he believes was the afterlife in the wake of his heart stopping for several minutes.
The 84-year-old star of films including the Godfather trilogy, Scarface and Heat revealed that his pulse briefly stopped after he contracted Covid-19 in 2020, but was revived by six paramedics and two doctors.
Pacino elaborated upon the revelation, which he shares in his forthcoming memoir Sonny Boy, as part of a new interview. According to the actor, he had “felt unusually not good” while suffering from fever and dehydration and “was sitting there in my house, and I was gone”.
He told The New York Times: “Like that, I didn’t have a pulse.”
Pacino, who caused confusion while announcing Best Picture at this year’s Oscars, then shared his verdict on what he claims was the afterlife, telling the outlet: “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 continued: “I didn’t see the white light or anything; there’s nothing there.”
However, by Pacino’s own admission, he is not sure he did actually die despite a nurse maintaining the Oscar winner lost his pulse.
He told People: “I thought I experienced death. I might not have… I don’t think I died. Everybody thought I was dead. How could I be dead? If I was dead, I fainted.”
Pacino said that the paramedics who treated him were wearing protective gear due to the pandemic.
“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.’”
Earlier this year, Pacino defended his appearance at the Oscars while announcing Oppenheimer as the winner of the ceremony’s top award.
Usually, award presenters read out the nominees before revealing the name of the film that won, but Pacino immediately declared Oppenheimer the winner.
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Pacino clarified why this happened soon after, though, stating: “There seems to be some controversy about my not mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the Best Picture award.
“I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony. I was honoured to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented.
Sonny Boy, which sees Pacino share anecdotes from his upbringing and experience on movie sets, is being published in the UK on 15 October.