Al Pacino Reveals He “Nearly Died” of Covid-19 in 2020

Al Pacino has revealed that he was seriously sick with Covid-19 in 2020 — and even thought he had died.

In an interview with the New York Times, Pacino, 84, explained that his experience with the virus began with feeling “unusually not good” before he developed a fever and dehydration, which triggered a rapid deterioration and a loss of pulse.

The Oscar-winning actor says that he then believes he experienced a glimpse into the afterlife — or lack of. “I was sitting there in my house, and I was gone,” he says. “I didn’t have a pulse. You’re here, you’re not. I thought: ‘Wow, you don’t even have your memories. You have nothing.’ Strange porridge.”

Thankfully, within minutes, an ambulance arrived with six paramedics and two doctors, and the star regained consciousness. “They had these outfits on that looked like they were from outer space or something,” he recalls. “It was kind of shocking to open your eyes and see that. Everybody was around me, and they said: ‘He’s back. He’s here.’”

In a separate interview with People ahead of the publication of his autobiography, Sonny Boy, this Tuesday (October 8), Pacino says he has his “great assistant” to thank for saving his life. “He got the people coming,” he says. “I thought I experienced death. I might not have. I don’t think I have, really. I know I made it. I didn’t see the white light or anything. There’s nothing there.”

Since his 2020 brush with death, Pacino has become a father for the fourth time: his son, Roman, with girlfriend Noor Alfallah, 29, was born in June 2023 and Pacino says the baby has become a reason to stay alive and document his extraordinary life. “That has been a campaign for me to stick around a little longer if it’s possible,” he told People.

When the baby boy was three months old, Alfallah successfully filed for sole physical custody, with a rep explaining that the arrangement did not mean the couple had split. “Al and Noor have successfully worked together and have mutually reached agreements regarding their child, Roman,” they confirmed. The agreement means that Pacino still maintains shared legal custody over his son, and has input into decisions around the child’s health, education and religion.

Pacino is also father to three grown-up children: daughter Julie, 34, whom he shares with ex Jan Tarrant, and twins Olivia and Anton, both 23, with another ex, Beverly D’Angelo.

As well as welcoming a new baby into the world in his eighties, Pacino continues to work in Hollywood: he’s currently working on Lear Rex, a movie adaptation of William Shakespeare’s King Lear, alongside Jessica Chastain.