Antonio Banderas, a famous actor, got married to a woman who already had two small children, and he has stated that he found it nerve-wracking to marry into a happy family of three while he was still young and inexperienced.

Both the Spanish actor Antonio Banderas and the American actress Melanie Griffith were still married to other people when they first crossed paths. Griffith continued to be married to the actor Don Johnson, whom she had already wed twice, but the couple divorced for good in 1994.

She eventually developed feelings for Banderas, who was working beside her at the time in the romantic comedy “Two Much” (1995). To all intents and purposes, he was still married to his first wife, the actress Ana Leza. On the other hand, the couple was going through a breakup at the time.

Banderas and Griffith remarried in a small ceremony on May 14, 1996, in London, exactly one month after the finalization of both of their previous marriages as husband and wife.

In a November 2011 interview with AARP, the star of “The Legend of Zorro” responded to the question of what drew him to the native New Yorker by saying that he had “admired Melanie long before I met her.”

Banderas recalled the first time he saw Griffith, which was in the film “Working Girl” from 1988. He was captivated by her attractiveness and said, “Wow, she’s so beautiful, so wonderful.” Banderas also referred to Griffith as “a very special woman.” Later on, he saw her on the red carpet at the Oscars, but he couldn’t remember her name:

“It’s Melanie Griffith, you moron!” shouted Pedro Almodovar. “It’s Melanie Griffith!” She has been nominated for an Academy Award, and the ceremony is tonight! After another six years, we finally tied the knot!”

Banderas responded that they were both “unhappy” in their respective marriages when asked how they went from their business connection to becoming romantically connected while appearing in “Two Much.”

“There will be times when things don’t go as planned, and unfortunately, that’s just the way life is. But we were aware that our state of happiness was not satisfactory. I saw her out and about with her children, and she made a stunning example of a mother “remarked the native of Spain.

Banderas noted that it is common for co-stars to build a connection while working alongside and that in most cases, after filming, everyone cuts ties. However, the same cannot be said about his and Griffith’s relationship because they continue to keep in touch.

They maintained frequent communication with one another up until the point where they finally revealed that they had feelings for one another. Something that, according to him, “was not easy” to accomplish. She was already a mother to two small children from her previous marriages when she wed the Golden Globe Award winner and became the star of “Frida.”

Alexander Griffith was Griffith’s first child, and he was born in her marriage to actor Steven Bauer, which took place in 1981 and lasted for five years until ending in divorce in 1989. It was during her marriage to Johnson, which lasted from 1976 to 1976 and again from 1989 to 1996, that she gave birth to her firstborn daughter, Dakota.

When asked how he tried to integrate into the marriage while also becoming a stepfather to Griffin’s son and daughter, Banderas said that it was hard since he had to reassure the children that he was there to stay:

“It was challenging since the children needed to accept me, and I had no prior expertise in the field. Suddenly, I had a 6-year-old girl and a 10-year-old son. But things returned to normal as soon as the children realized I would be remaining in that location. They required a stable foundation in order to develop properly.”

After coming to that conclusion, the actor from “Spy Kids” began “building my relationship, offering them protection, and gradually doing the father thing.”

Banderas answered that it took less than a year for his stepchildren “to realize that I was not transient.” This response came in response to a question about how long it took to put the children’s minds at ease.

It wasn’t long before he welcomed his daughter Stella into the world, which caused him to feel overwhelmed since he was still working on Alexander and Dakota’s relationship with him.

The time and effort that Banderas put into developing a close relationship with his stepkids paid off when he proved to be an asset to Dakota’s acting career. In 1999, the star of “Fifty Shades of Grey” made her acting debut in the film “Crazy in Alabama,” which was her stepfather’s first as a director. She appeared in the film with her mother. In the movie, Dakota performed the role of Sondra.

She remembered sending pop singer Madonna an Easter basket when they were filming “Evita” in Budapest in 1996. At the time, she was a little child when she spent time on set with Antonio Banderas.

These are the kinds of memories that are dear to her stepfather as well, and he once gushed: “She is the daughter of mine. I love her. I’ve carried her on my shoulders as we’ve gone from place to place all around the world.”

Banderas also disclosed Dakota’s endearing childhood nickname for him, which is a combination of the term “daddy” in Dakota’s native tongue and his own name:

“It was Dakota who gave me the nickname Paponio, which is a combination of the words papa, which means “daddy” in Spanish, and Antonio. I’m here Antonio papa, so Paponio.”

After an unhappy 18 years of marriage, Banderas and Dakota’s mother filed for divorce in June 2014 and issued a joint statement that read:

Melanie and Antonio say, “After much consideration and discussion, we have come to the conclusion that the best way to honor and respect each other, our families and friends, and the wonderful time we have shared together is to end our nearly twenty-year marriage in a loving and amicable manner.”

The former couple parted ways in a civilized manner, and Griffith stated that she and Banderas couldn’t reconcile their differences as the reason why they went their separate ways.

After a number of years had passed, her daughter gave an emotional acceptance speech when presenting Banderas with the Best Actor award at the 2019 Hollywood Film Awards. Dakota became upset as she spoke fondly of her stepfather while addressing him by the nickname she had given him since she was a child.

“I was really fortunate to be born into a family that had a long history of marriages. I didn’t choose to have a dad, but when I did, I got a bonus dad who, as time went on, I realized is actually one of the most significant individuals in my entire life.”

The native of Texas stated that Banderas brought joy into their lives and shared with them his sense of “creativity and culture.” Additionally, the native stated that Banderas brought “one amazingly magical young sister into our family.”

Dakota, choking back her laughter, said: “That’s my stepdad! Antonio Banderas suddenly appeared in our midst. We were blown away by how animated, hilarious, and enjoyable he was, not to mention how abstract his English was.” She claimed that the amount of “love” he had for her mother, herself, and her siblings were so great that it altered the course of their “lives forever.”

Banderas stated in his acceptance speech that he wanted to devote the prize to “two individuals” that he loved. One of these people was Dakota, and he said that he appreciated the fact that she has always called him “Papi” and that she still does. After the ceremony, the loving stepfather shared with E! News Online that he “had no idea” that his stepchild would be honoring him with such a touching speech:

“Everything came as a complete shock. I was aware that she was going to deliver the speech, but I was completely clueless regarding the specifics of how she was going to deliver it. She did not share any information with me.”

The happy father remarked that it resurrected all of the memories he had formed with his blended family and that he was thankful for those “It was a validation to him that the time he had spent with Griffith was not only about the two of them but also about the family. They were all well worth the investment.”

When Antonio Banderas was promoting his original feature “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” in February 2015, it was scheduled to be released on the same weekend as Dakota Johnson’s film “Fifty Shades of Grey.” Banderas made a comment about how great of an actress Dakota was during the promotion of his film.

It was important to him to highlight that there was “no competition” between him and his stepdaughter because the audiences for their respective films were different. “I want Dakota the best, not only because of this movie,” he said, but also because he and the rest of the family, including Dakota’s real father, knew that she was a talented actress. “This movie is not the only reason I wish Dakota the best,” he said.

Banderas went on to say that Dakota would have a successful career due to the fact that she can represent a variety of different personas. He claimed that she was excellent in both comedic and dramatic roles, citing her performance in the film and the television series “Ben & Kate” as examples. He referred to it as an “opportunity window” for Dakota and said that he was confident that she would seize the moment with both of her hands and sprint with it.