Heart attack was a psychological turning point: Antonio Banderas

Veteran actor Antonio Banderas says that after spending close to four decades in the movie business, he has realised that it is important for an artiste to keep contact with reality.

"I'm 60 next year and have realised there is a moment in your life when there is only space for truth. My life has never been perfect. But the challenge for anyone famous is just to recoup the normality of everyday life. If you've made yourself a castle, your contact with reality vanishes. It's dangerous. Because you start thinking you are special, but you're not. You connect to people artistically, but that doesn't make you special."

The actor, who was rushed to hospital back in 2017 after suffering chest pains while exercising, said that the heart attack was a turning point in his life.

"It was a turning point, psychologically. And the tendency you have as a human, after such an event, is to show yourself in a perfect state. You want to do even more. And so I chose to do more interesting movies," he said.

The actor received the Cannes Film Festival Award 2019 for Best Actor for Pain and Glory. He has The Laundromat scheduled to release this year while the next year has as many as four films - The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, Lamborghini - The Legend, The New Mutants and The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard - up for release.