In a very real way, Antonio Banderas is thankful for the heart attack he suffered in 2017.
"It made me appreciate life in a completely different way and in a much more powerful way. It changed my life entirely and completely for good," he said on Britain's "This Morning."

The "Mask of Zorro" star began experiencing chest pains during a workout in 2017, and he later found out that it was a heart attack.
From that moment on, he was a changed man.
With hindsight being 20/20, Antonio wishes he was more appreciative about life when he was younger, something he now hopes to imprint on the younger generation.
"After Covid, kids were asking themselves 'why can't we go to school,' it was there in the environment, we took a chance to reflect," he said. "Kids, they know more than we think. They understand and it's good to reflect with them on these issues."
"What they are learning at the end is to praise life, how wonderful life is. Life is a beautiful thing, we have only one and we have to take care of it," he said.

Earlier in the week, the 62-year-old actor also spoke about his health with The Radio Times.
"I had a heart attack six years ago. It probably was one of the best things that happened in my life. It was like putting glasses on and seeing what was important," Antonio said. "I came back to Spain and started looking at my professional life from a different point of view."
The heart attack, he added, was a "turning point" that prompted his decision to quit smoking.
"Since my heart attack, I'm looking only for the pleasure of acting. That's it," he said. "I don't care about anything else. For me, life starts when somebody says, 'Action!' – or when the curtain comes up."