Nine years ago, Antonio Banderas left Hollywood and moved back to his hometown of Malaga, Spain, and he’s never looked back.
SEVILLE, SPAIN – NOVEMBER 16: Antonio Banderas speaks onstage during The 24th Annual Latin Grammy Awards on November 16, 2023 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Latin Recording Academy)
The reason? A heart attack that nearly killed him.
In 2017, Banderas had a heart attack, which he now calls a “serious warning,” adding, “It changed the way I look at life.” Due to the medical event, the “Paddington in Peru” actor quit smoking, sold his private jet, and moved back to Spain. “Faced with death, it made me look back and realize that I am, in fact, a theatre actor,” he told The Times.
MADRID, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 16: Antonio Banderas attends the “Paddington. Aventura En La Selva” premiere at Kinepolis Cinema on February 16, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images)
While he continues to act in movies, having released four films in 2024, his passion lies in running his not-for-profit theater, Teatro del Soho. “I have never been so happy,” he said. He even joked that when he eventually dies, he hopes to come back as a ghost and haunt his theater.
This isn’t the first time Banderas has spoken highly of his heart attack. In 2022, he called it “one of the best things that ever happened” to him. “The things that were not important and I was worried every day about them, meaningless. I was like, why am I worried about that if I’m going to die? I knew always [that I was going to die], but now I know. I’ve seen it right here,” he told Page Six.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 13: Antonio Banderas attends the “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish” World Premiere at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 13, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Luckily, the medical emergency didn’t cause any lasting damage, although he did undergo a procedure to insert three stents into his arteries.
Follow us on Instagram @WeArePauseRewind for all your pop culture obsessions.