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Antonio Banderas Told PEOPLE His 2017 Heart Attack Was “The Best Thing That Ever Happened In My Life.”

Updated 2 weeks ago, August 10, 2026

Antonio Banderas survived after doctors put three stents in his arteries. “I knew I was not supposed to be in Malibu, but in Málaga,” he tells PEOPLE. “It was like somebody put glasses on me so I could see the reality that I didn’t see before.”

Emergency surgeons placed three stents in Banderas’s arteries after he was rushed to the hospital from his home in Surrey, England. The chest pains had started there; his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel got aspirin into him before the medics arrived.

Antonio Banderas walking in a Palm Sunday procession in Málaga, Spain — Antonio Banderas marches in the “Lágrimas y Favores” brotherhood’s Palm Sunday procession through the streets of Málaga, Spain, on April 13, 2025. Photo by Jorge Guerrero / AFP via Getty Images.

Now 66, he credits that scare with rebuilding his life. He quit smoking and left Malibu for Málaga, the Spanish city where he grew up, where he runs a theater and has invested in eight restaurants.

Antonio Banderas singing into a microphone on stage beside performers in vibrant costumes during a theatrical rehearsal. — Antonio Banderas, microphone in hand, belts out a number alongside colorfully costumed cast members during a press rehearsal of his musical “Godspell, El Musical” at the Soho Theatre in Málaga, Spain, on Oct. 24, 2025. Photo by Jorge Guerrero / AFP via Getty Images.

Antonio Banderas at the María Santísima de Lágrimas y Favores Easter procession in Málaga, Spain — Antonio Banderas joins Holy Week celebrations in Málaga, stepping out for the María Santísima de Lágrimas y Favores procession at San Juan Bautista church on April 13, 2025. Photo by Daniel Perez / Getty Images.

“You always have in your mind that you’re going to die,” he shared, “But then when you have it so close, it’s an unbelievably clear reminder of how stupid you are losing time over things that don’t deserve to be in your life.”

He’s back in that world onscreen too, playing a chef who mentors a young Anthony Bourdain in the new biopic Tony. “The only thing that I am interested in now is in the experience of living,” he explained, “People live like they are not going to die. They collect things. I don’t want to collect anything.”