Nicolas Winding Refn Says Heart Surgery Sparked His Creative Rebirth for ‘Her Private Hell’

Nicolas Winding Refn on nearly dying, reuniting with Ryan Gosling and why 'polarisation is success'

Ten years after The Neon Demon, Nicolas Winding Refn is back with 'Her Private Hell', a neon-soaked fever dream starring Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton. Speaking to FRANCE 24’s Eve Jackson at the Deauville American Film Festival, the Danish provocateur behind 'Drive' and 'Bronson' opens up about the near-death experience that changed his life, why he believes “polarisation is success” and his plans to make a third film with Ryan Gosling – 15…

Nicolas Winding Refn Says Heart Surgery Sparked His Creative Rebirth for ‘Her Private Hell’

Nicolas Winding Refn has revealed that a life-threatening heart condition and subsequent surgery fundamentally changed his approach to filmmaking. The Danish director, known for films including Drive, The Neon Demon and Only God Forgives, says he had lost his creative drive before undergoing the operation in 2023. Speaking with The Guardian, Refn described the experience as a form of rebirth that eventually inspired his latest movie, Her Private…

‘I thank God for killing me and bringing me back’: Nicolas Winding Refn on the emergency op that inspired his new sci-fi horror

Notorious for ultra-violent movies like Drive and The Neon Demon, the Dane had lost the will to direct until ‘the Tom Cruise of surgeons’ saved his life – and triggered an astonishing creative rebirth Nicolas Winding Refn has his phone out, showing me one of the goriest scenes he’s ever been involved in. Given that…