Antonio Banderas' heart attack was 'one of the best things that happened in my life'

Antonio Banderas thinks having a heart attack was "one of the best things" to ever happen to him.

The 62-year-old actor suffered a heart attack six years ago and Antonio believes that it helped to change his life for the better.

The Mask of Zorro star - who was born in Malaga in Spain - explained to the Radio Times magazine: "I had a heart attack six years ago. It probably was one of the best things that happened in my life. It was like putting glasses on and seeing what was important.

"I came back to Spain and started looking at my professional life from a different point of view. So I do connect to it in a personal way. I think it's a beautiful message, and I think it was done properly.

"Since my heart attack, I'm looking only for the pleasure of acting. That's it. I don't care about anything else. For me, life starts when somebody says, 'Action!' - or when the curtain comes up."

Antonio overhauled his lifestyle in a bid to stay healthy, and the actor admits that he feels lucky to be alive.

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Antonio - who quit smoking after his heart attack - shared: "I was lucky after all, because a heart attack can kill you just like this… In a way, it's one of the best things to happen in my life, to have a heart attack."

The movie star previously credited his quick-thinking girlfriend Nicole Kimpel for saving his life.

Antonio explained that she gave him an aspirin when he started to experience symptoms.

He said: "My girlfriend, she had a headache and we didn't have anything in the house. So she went out to buy something, a painkiller or whatever. She bought this aspirin, which is the only thing that she found and she found the maximum one, I think it was five milligrams.

"The next morning, when I started having the symptoms and I clearly knew what was going on, she put one of those aspirins inside of my tongue and that saved my life. Yeah. So I had a second chance."