Al Pacino claims he almost died of COVID: 'I was gone'

(NEXSTAR) – Just when he thought he might be out, Al Pacino says he was pulled back into consciousness during an earlier battle with COVID.

During a podcast appearance on The New York Times’ “The Interview” series, Al Pacino claims he once nearly died of COVID after having slipped into unconsciousness amid a bout of fever and dehydration.

“I felt not good, unusually not good,” said the actor, without specifying when exactly he fell ill. He then explained that he requested a nurse to come to his home, to treat him for dehydration, but he lost consciousness during the procedure.

“I was gone, like that,” he told podcast host David Marchese. “Absolutely gone.”

The nurse attempted to find his pulse, Pacino said, but he “didn’t have a pulse,” or “it was very, very low and they … got panicked right away.”

Within minutes, the actor said there were multiple paramedics and doctors by his side, including two that had protective equipment and “looked like they were from outer space or something.”

“So it was kind of shocking to open your eyes and see that,” Pacino said. “I open my eyes, and everybody was around me … and they said, ‘He’s back. He’s here.’”

Pacino’s near-death experience didn’t come with any visions of the afterlife, he added.

“I didn’t see the white light or anything like that. There was nothing there,” he said, admitting later that he didn’t particularly like the idea of there being “no more” after his death.

“Now I started thinking about that, and I never thought about it in my life. But actors, it sounds good to me to say ‘I died once,’” he said, laughing. “It felt like death.”

The Oscar-winning actor appeared on “The Interview” to discuss his upcoming memoir “Sonny Boy,” which is scheduled to be released on Oct. 15. The book touches on not only his career, but his upbringing, his influences and “the important relationships” he shared with collaborators, according to the publisher.

Pacino also told the Times that writing the book had “opened [him] up a little bit” after refusing to do interviews or reveal much about his personal life in his early years. But when asked what prompted him to finally put a pen to paper, Pacino couldn’t say.

“I regret it,” he joked. “What else can I say? I have many regrets, but this would be one of them.”