Al Pacino's heart stopped when he was suffering from COVID-19

Al Pacino's heart stopped when he was suffering from COVID-19.

The 84-year-old actor has recalled how he was left "sitting there in my house" and that he was "gone" after falling unconscious while battling the virus.

Pacino told The New York Times Magazine: "I didn't have a pulse.

"In a matter of minutes they were there - the ambulance in front of my house. I had about six paramedics in that living room, and there were two doctors, and they had these outfits on that looked like they were from outer space or something."

The 'Godfather' star explained how he lost consciousness after he started feeling "unusually not good" as he contracted Covid at an unspecified time and stated that he had "never thought" about death beforehand.

Pacino recalled: "I didn't see the white light or anything. There's nothing there. 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?"

Despite his brush with death, the 'Scarface' actor says that his children - Julie, 34, twins Anton and Olivia, 23, as well as one-year-old Roman from his various relationships - are "consolation" and that he no longer finds discussing death to be "morbid" now that he is older.

He said: "It's just the way it is.

"I didn't ask for it. Just comes, like a lot of things just come."

Pacino has had an extensive acting career but confessed that the profession gave him more joy when he was younger.

The 'Heat' actor said: "Usually when I make films, I'm not very happy.

"They can be tedious, but you can go to your camper and do whatever you want."