Aaron Sorkin reveals he had a stroke: ‘Supposed to be dead’

“West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin revealed that he almost died last November after having a stroke.

In a new interview with the New York Times published Wednesday, the writer shared more about his medical emergency.

Sorkin explained that in November, he woke up in the middle of the night and noticed that he was “crashing into walls and corners” while walking to the kitchen.

He didn’t pay much attention to it until the next morning when he kept spilling his glass of orange juice. The playwright called his doctor, who told him to come in immediately.

His blood pressure was so high that his doctor told him, “You’re supposed to be dead.”

It turns out that the film director had had a stroke.

“Mostly it was a loud wake-up call,” he told the Times. “I thought I was one of those people who could eat whatever he wanted, smoke as much as he wanted, and it’s not going to affect me. Boy, was I wrong.”

The outlet explained that he did not want to speak about it on the record originally, as the interview was supposed to be about the opening of his Broadway musical, an adaptation of “Camelot,” but changed his mind as he wanted to be able spread awareness about his story.

Sorkin had been a heavy cigarette smoker since high school, smoking two packs of Merits a day, the Times reported. He explained that it had been a major part of his writing process over the years.

“It was just part of it, the way a pen was part of it,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about it too much, because I’ll start to salivate.”

He revealed that after he had the stroke, he quit smoking for good and made other lifestyle changes, like working out twice per day and eating healthier.

“I take a lot of medicine,” Sorkin admitted. “You can hear the pills rattling around in me.”

In his recovery process, he struggled with typing, was warned against flying for a couple of weeks and couldn’t sign his own name. He said that he’s overcome those problems, but he still can’t taste food too well.

However, in the aftermath of the stroke, things were quite scary for Sorkin.

“There was a minute when I was concerned that I was never going to be able to write again,” he told the publication, “and I was concerned in the short-term that I wasn’t going to be able to continue writing ‘Camelot.’”

Now, he’s been flying back and forth between New York and Los Angeles and working on perfecting “Camelot.”

“Let me make this very, very clear,” he maintained. “I’m fine. I wouldn’t want anyone to think I can’t work. I’m fine.”

A rep for Sorkin told The Post they had no further comment.

The opening night for “Camelot” is set for April 13, according to Deadline. It stars actors Fergie Philippe as Sir Sagramore and Dakin Matthews as Merlyn/Pellinore.