Kevin Smith was "high" when he was rushed to hospital after a near-fatal heart attack

He said: "I didn't know, until I was in the hospital room, that I had a heart attack.

"[The doctor] was like, you've had a massive heart attack, and I was like, 'Nobody told me, are you serious?'

"And he's like, 'what's your pain threshold on a 0-10?' I was like '-3.' He was like 'Are you high?' I said, 'Yeah I got blazed before my show, maybe that's why I feel no pain.' "

And while Kevin - who felt "no pain" during the operation because doctors had administered painkiller Fentanyl - may have undergone a number of lifestyle changes since having the heart attack, he has no plans to quit smoking marijuana.

Speaking on US TV show 'Today' on Monday (23.04.18) morning, he said: "I'm a wake-and-baker, so I'm feeling fantastic. I've been up since 5 a.m, I'm ready to embrace the day."

The 'Clerks' filmmaker - who has daughter Harley Quinn, 18, with wife Jennifer Schwalbach Smith - was awake throughout the surgery, singing the theme from 'Degrassi: The Next Generation' to keep his spirits up during the procedure because he was so scared of dying.

He said: " "[The doctor] told me later on 'You're very chatty ... you were singing a song 'Degrassi.' And I was singing the theme song to 'Degrassi' because it's very hopeful."

"They keep you awake, and I was terrified the whole time. The thing I kept talking about was like, I was afraid of dying, that's my biggest fear. And it almost happened, and I was OK, I lived through it.

"My second biggest fear was anyone seeing me naked, and in the hospital, your chances of dying and being seen naked go way up."

One of Kevin's arteries was completely blocked, so as soon as he had the stent inserted, he felt relief.

He said: "I felt like instantly better [when they inserted the stent]. It made sense, none of the blood was going through there for who knows how long. I had 100 percent blockage, so I wasn't getting proper oxygen. So now I feel great."

And the 'Yoga Hosers' director hailed his heart attack as the "best thing" to have happened to him because it's forced him to change his lifestyle, and he's now lost over 30lbs from a largely plant-based diet.

He said: "Honestly, the heart attack was the best thing that ever happened to me.

"This is the weight I was when I met my wife, so this is a good weight to be at. Last time I was at this weight, I scored, big time."