Hollywood star Dick Van Dyke has said he is “not afraid” of death during a seven-minute short film which has been made as a director’s cut of a new Coldplay music video.
The video for All My Love, the latest single from the band’s album Moon Music, stars the 98-year-old Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins actor.
In the extended video version, co-directed by Spike Jonze and Mary Wigmore, Van Dyke is seen speaking about age, family and love.
“I’m acutely aware that I could go any day now, but I don’t know why, it doesn’t concern me, I’m not afraid of it,” he said.
“I have that feeling totally against anything intellectual I have, that I’m going to be alright.”
Looking at a photo of himself with his first wife Margie Willett and their children, Van Dyke adds: “What is love? Boy, they’ve been attacking that question for centuries, I don’t know.
“It certainly is a feeling of caring about the welfare and the life of the other person as much as you care for yourself.
“This (the photo) is us in our first home when we moved to California, there’s Carrie Beth, who was born there, Chris is the oldest, there’s Barry, and Stacy.
“I’ve had dreams where I am depressed or hurt, or lonely, or something, and she (Stacy) comes to comfort me, actually comes to comfort me.”
Later in the video he is asked to close his eyes and think about people who have meant something in his life, and jokes: “I’m too old for this, I’ll pass out and go to sleep, I’ll take a nap.”
Filmed at Van Dyke’s Malibu home, a shorter version of the music video is being released on December 13 to celebrate his 99th birthday.
Speaking about his career in the full-length video, he adds: “I think I’m one of those lucky people who got to do for a living, to do what I would’ve done anyway.
“When you think how lucky I am, I got to do what I do, play and act silly.”
At the end of the video, Van Dyke is seen writing a song about old age with Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin.
His career has spanned more than seven decades and earned him an array of awards including Primetime and Daytime Emmys and a Grammy for the Mary Poppins soundtrack. He has been inducted into the Television Hall Of Fame and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The single is the third to be taken from Coldplay’s 2024 album, which reached number one in the UK album charts.
It became the London band’s 10th UK number one album since they were formed in 1997, and they have two UK number one singles in that time.
