Nicolas Winding Refn Breaks Down in Tears as He Recalls Dying for 25 Minutes Due to a ‘Leaking Heart’ and Coming Back to Life: ‘How Many People Get a Second Chance?’

May 19, 2026 4:21am PT Nicolas Winding Refn Breaks Down in Tears as He Recalls Dying for 25 Minutes Due to a ‘Leaking Heart’ and Coming Back to Life: ‘How Many People Get a Second Chance?’

By Ellise Shafer

Plus Icon

Ellise Shafer

Latest

• Nicolas Winding Refn Breaks Down in Tears as He Recalls Dying for 25 Minutes Due to a ‘Leaking Heart’ and Coming Back to Life: ‘How Many People Get a Second Chance?’ 11 minutes ago
• Sebastian Stan Slams Donald Trump and Says What’s Going on in America Is ‘Not a Laughing Matter’: ‘We’re in a Really Bad Place’ 1 hour ago
• Shirtless Charles Melton, Brutal Murders and Daddy Issues: Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Her Private Hell’ Slays Cannes Crowd With 7-Minute Ovation 13 hours ago

See All

Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn broke down in tears during the Cannes press conference for his new film “Her Private Hell,” recalling how he died for 25 minutes three years ago and then came back to life.

Refn, who is making his feature film return with “Her Private Hell” after 10 years, said he had given up on movie-making until he faced death. “Before I died, I had come to the end of my career because I didn’t have anything left in me,” he said. “So, there was nothing for me to do.”

Related Stories

Opposition Mounts to Paramount-WBD Merger. Will It Make a Difference?