The actor, who survived a heart attack in 2017, stars in the new biopic ‘Tony’ about the late chef Anthony Bourdain

NEED TO KNOW

• Antonio Banderas credits a 2017 heart attack with inspiring major life changes, including quitting smoking and moving to Spain
• The actor, who runs a theater and restaurants in Málaga, stars in the new biopic Tony about Anthony Bourdain’s early life
• Banderas calls ex-wife Melanie Griffith an “unbelievable mother” and says he is extremely proud of their adult children

Antonio Banderas has learned to appreciate every little moment in life—and he almost died to get to that place.

Nearly a decade ago, the actor was at home in Surrey, England, when he started experiencing chest pains. His longtime girlfriend Nicole Kimpel quickly gave him some aspirin before medics arrived and took him to the hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery during which doctors placed three stents in his arteries.

The 2017 heart attack left Banderas, 66, motivated to make some big changes, from quitting smoking to moving back to his hometown of Málaga, Spain.

“You always have in your mind that you’re going to die,” he tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “But then when you have it so close, it’s an unbelievably clear reminder of how stupid you are losing time over things that don’t deserve to be in your life.”

Among the things that have earned a firmly entrenched spot: his beloved Teatro del Soho CaixaBank in Málaga, where he produces plays and musicals. He’s also invested in several notable dining spots around the town. “It’s true that food and gastronomy is a culture,” he says.

Banderas gets to lean into that belief with his role in the new biopic Tony, portraying a chef who shapes the early life of the late Anthony Bourdain (played by Dominic Sessa). “I didn’t know Anthony Bourdain personally, but I thought that [Bourdain’s travelogue series No Reservations] was a beautiful show that was not actually about cooking, but life,” the actor says. “And then my character [based on Bourdain’s mentor Ciro Cozzi], he was a good man. He was somebody who has something to say. And I have eight restaurants, so I am a little bit in that world, too. It’s almost impossible to say no to a project like this.”

Then, of course, there’s Kimpel, 45, a German-born model, investment advisor and entrepreneur he began dating after splitting with his ex-wife Melanie Griffith, 69, with whom he shares daughter Stella, 29, and stepchildren Dakota Johnson, 36, and Alexander Bauer, 40.

“My father was my mentor. He was compassionate. It’s a way of understanding life. With my kids, it’s just love,” Banderas says. “I see them blossoming and becoming good people, and I’m so proud of them. The three of them—the one biological that is mine and the other two—they’re doing great. I got to say that Melanie was an unbelievable mother.”

The actor, who got his start working with auteur Pedro Almodóvar in his native Spain before breaking out in the U.S. with roles in 1992’s The Mambo Kings (as a musician fleeing Cuba) and 1993’s Philadelphia (as Tom Hanks‘s devoted partner), insists he is filled with gratitude for his life in Spain.

“Those were beautiful, exciting years [in L.A.], but I always had this sense of provisionality, that it was not going to last my whole life. I knew was not supposed to be in Malibu, but in Málaga,” he says. “People live like they are not going to die. They collect things. I don’t want to collect anything. The only thing that I am interested in now is in the experience of living.”

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