Kevin Smith Says He Is ‘Living on Borrowed Time’ Following His ‘Massive Heart Attack’

Kevin Smith gave his first interview after his “massive” heart attack and return from the hospital. The director shared the news on Twitter early on Monday morning, posting an image from his hospital bed, and has since opened up about his condition as support poured in from fans and friends. The interview with Ralph Garman on his Ralph Report podcast is an eye-opener and offers a sobering take on Smith’s outlook on life.

As he tells the host, Smith says that his survival from the heart attack and the “100% blockage” of his LAD artery left him thinking about what happens next:

“I don’t want to say I feel like a dead man walking, but I do feel like I’m not supposed to be here anymore, and it doesn’t make me want to leave, but it makes me appreciate how … like, all right, let’s do everything,” Smith told Garman, a longtime friend of the director with whom he co-hosts the Hollywood Babble-On podcast.

He told a story about how his dad was close to death and then made a miraculous recovery and lived two months longer — “on borrowed time” — which he himself now feels like he’s living.

“I was supposed to be dead in that room, no doubt,” Smith said, noting how lucky he was that he wasn’t traveling at the time and able to get to a hospital quickly enough for doctors to save him.

Part one of the interview was released on Friday, with a second part following on Monday, and features Smith speaking candidly about the experience in the hospital, keeping his sense of humor intact throughout — including a funny story about the moment he was told he’d have to his groin shaved — and his hopes to do one more film, possibly a reboot of the Jay And Silent Bob films.

But he’s also quick to add that you shouldn’t expect him to change too much or claim that he wants to do everything he wants to do now that he’s gotten a “second chance.” That’s because he feels like he’s always done what he wants to do according to The Hollywood Reporter:

“I only ever wanted to make Clerks; 25 years later, I did more shit than I ever imagined. I’ve gone on so many fucking adventures, and heights and falls, plummets, up and down, everything, and I just felt like, ‘Well, the rest of your life, if you live, it’s just going to kinda be more of the same, and you’ve done this and be happy that you got to do it at all. You got to do some shit people fucking dream [about] or will kill themselves to try to fucking accomplish or get in their own lives, and it came to you all so easy. So if this is the price you have to pay for all that ease, checking out before age 50, that’s — how can you argue with that? Don’t be shitty. Pay the bill. It’s time.'”

There are some changes he has made, though. He tells Garman that he’s on “day 3 of being a vegetarian” and plans on living a healthier lifestyle from here on. Just don’t expect him to make a heart attack movie anytime soon.

He also shared this image on Thursday featuring a gift he got from the Disney Channel, jokingly referring to him as another famous Kevin:

(Via The Hollywood Reporter / Ralph Report)