And you thought your socially distant birthday party in the park was a drag? Antonio Banderas, acting virtuoso and noted handsome man of leisure, revealed that he tested positive for the coronavirus on his 60th birthday, joining the growing list of celebrities who have been open about their COVID-19 experiences. (Yes, we’re just as surprised that he’s 60, too.) “I would like to add that I feel relatively good, just a little more tired than usual, and am confident that I will recover as soon as possible following medical instructions that I hope will allow me to overcome the infectious period that I am suffering, and that is affecting so many people around the planet,†Banderas wrote on social media with a baby photo, per Variety’s translation. “I will take advantage of this isolation to read, write, rest and continue making plans to begin to give meaning to my 60 years, to which I arrive full of enthusiasm. A big hug to everyone.â€
Banderas’s coronavirus diagnosis comes about a year after he suffered a heart attack, which helped inform his stunning, Oscar-nominated work in Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory. “It just gave me a perspective of who I was, and it just made the important things go to the surface,†he explained in 2019 about the cardiac event. “When I say this, people may just think that I’m crazy, but it’s one of the best things that ever happened in my life.†Well, with that optimism, perhaps he can see the good in COVID-19 too.