World-renowned thespian Al Pacino recently sat down for a long feature interview with The New York Times. Towards the end of it—after a long discussion of Pacino's acting career—he opens up about a near-death experience he had in 2020 relating to COVID-19. At one point, Pacino explains, his heart actually stopped, though he was clearly revived afterward.
This anecdote prompted a curious follow-up from the interviewer. "Did that experience have any metaphysical ripples?" he asks. (Hey, we were all thinking it.) To which Pacino responds:
It actually did. I didn't see the white light or anything. There's nothing there. As Hamlet says, "To be or not to be"; "The undiscovered country from whose bourn, no traveler returns." And he says two words: "no more." It was no more. You're gone. I'd never thought about it in my life. But you know actors: It sounds good to say I died once. What is it when there's no more?
There's certainly a sense of comfort within that sort of fatalistic nihilism. But hearing it from Al Pacino's lips feels…weirdly beautiful?
The Interview: Al Pacino Is Still Going Big [David Marchese / The New York Times]
Disclosure: I also write for Wirecutter, which is owned by the New York Times Company, which also publishes The New York Times
