"It changed the way I look at life": Antonio Banderas reflects on his harrowing heart attack nearly a decade later

Antonio Banderas is looking back on the moment that forced him to rethink everything – and, by his own account, it's left him happier than ever.

In a new interview with The Times, the 65-year-old actor opened up about a near-fatal heart attack he suffered in 2017 that changed everything.

"Seriously. Mine was a really serious warning. It changed the way I look at life," he said.

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The Spanish actor, once one of Hollywood's most bankable leading men, completely dismantled his previous life.

After the health scare, Banderas quit smoking, sold his Surrey mansion, offloaded his US home and even parted ways with his private jet. 

In their place came a return to his roots in Málaga, Spain, where he now lives a far more pared-back life with his partner Nicole Kimpel, 43.

"Faced with death, it made me look back and realise that I am, in fact, a theatre actor," he said, explaining the realisation that ultimately pulled him away from the blockbuster machine that had helped generate a staggering $77 billion at the box office.

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Instead, his focus has turned to Teatro del Soho – a not-for-profit theatre he personally helps fund, contributing around €200,000 each year.

"The opportunity arose to buy this venue, a former cinema, which was in a state of disrepair and full of asbestos. It was awful. So I cleared it out and built it inside its shell," he said.

"It keeps me in touch with my roots, my neighbourhood, my people. I haven't lost that connection over the years. Quite the opposite."

Locals, he revealed, have even given him a nickname: "José Hollywood."

The transformation traces back to 2017, when the then-58-year-old was rushed to hospital after suffering chest pains while exercising – later confirmed to be a heart attack that could have cost him his life.

Looking back, Banderas now goes as far as to say the experience was, unexpectedly, a turning point for the better.

He has also spoken candidly about how deeply attached he's become to his theatre, even joking about what comes next.

"I will come back as a ghost. To haunt my theatre."

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It marks a sharp contrast to the years he spent carving out a career in the US, something he admits didn't come easily at first.

"I didn't speak English, but little by little I made a career for myself there. I later married an American woman and my life changed, my insecurities disappeared."

Early warnings that he would be typecast as a villain only make his eventual success feel more significant.

"They said, you are here, like the blacks and the Hispanics, to play the bad guys.

"The problem was a few years later I had a mask, hat, sword and cape and the bad guy was Captain Love, who was blond and had blue eyes.

"Even more important is Puss in Boots, because it's for young kids. They see a cat that has a Spanish, even an Andalusian accent and he's a good guy."

Away from work, the actor has also had reason to celebrate closer to home.

Last year, he watched his daughter Stella, 29 – whom he shares with ex-wife Melanie Griffith – marry her longtime partner Alex Gruszynski in Spain. 

Through that marriage, he also became a stepfather to Dakota Johnson, with whom he has remained close over the years.

Stella's wedding, held at a monastery-turned-winery in Valladolid, was a particularly meaningful moment for Banderas.

"Seeing my daughter dressed as a bride will be one of the most beautiful moments of my life.

"I get to be the father of the bride, and it's a role I take on with all the emotion in the world."

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