Kevin Smith Describes His Heart Attack on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert'

A few months ago, Kevin Smith suffered a massive heart attack and nearly died after filming a comedy special. Since then, the filmmaker has been outspoken about his experience and his lifestyle changes but now he's revealed the one thing that may have saved his life.

Smith appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday and he opened up about his harrowing experience, explaining that being calm was what helped him survive the heart attack.

"They got me to the hospital and they wheel me into the emergency room and the whole time I'm chill," Smith said. "Like, the guy said, the paramedic, he goes, 'You're being real calm, that's going to get you through this.' And there's a dude behind him goes, 'That's what's going to save his life,' And I'm like, 'What does that part mean?'"

Smith soon found out. While he initially just thought that he wasn't feeling well as he didn't experience any of the symptoms most people consider when it comes to heart attacks, including pain down his arm, Smith had actually suffered a heart attack commonly referred to "the widow maker" as he had a 100 percent blockage of his left anterior descending artery. However, even once made aware that he was having a heart attack, Smith remained calm, and as he told Colbert, it was because he had smoked weed prior to his show.

"I said, 'Doc, honestly, I just smoked too much weed this morning. That's what this is,'" Smith said he told the doctor when informed about the heart attack. "I honestly thought I was too high. I'd smoked a bunch of weed that day because I was doing the show and then I smoked a joint right before the snow and then I got off stage and all of the sudden I had a heart attack."

Smith said he expected the doctor to be upset, but as it turns out, the doctor thought it may have saved his life.

"He goes, 'No, quite the opposite. That weed saved your life.'" Smith recalled. 'And I was like, 'do tell! Like, what do you mean?' He said, 'you kept calm. They told you that you were having a massive heart attack and you remained calm the whole time so that joint saved your life.'"

Since then, Smith has embraced his life fully. He followed doctor's orders to make lifestyle changes -- including weight loss - and has been outspoken about his experience to share that not all heart attacks follow "classic" symptoms. His career is also going forward as well. The comedy special he was filming right before his heart attack will air on Showtime later this month. The special, appropriately named Kevin Smith: Silent But Deadly, is set to debut Friday, May 11th on Showtime.