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Antonio Banderas is getting real about why he ditched Los Angeles to move back to his hometown in Spain.
During a recent interview with People, the 65-year-old explained he originally moved to Los Angeles to be with Melanie Griffith after the two fell in love. She had two young children at the time and couldn’t relocate to Spain.
“Those were beautiful, exciting years. But I always had this sense of provisionality that it was not going to last my whole life,” Banderas said. “I knew that Málaga was there, my hometown. I was not supposed to be in Malibu, but in Málaga.”
Griffith and Banderas went on to marry in 1996, just one year after making a connection on set of the 1995 movie “Two Much.” Not long after tying the knot, the two welcomed their daughter, Stella, in September 1996.
Banderas always knew he would return to his hometown in Spain after moving to Los Angeles to be with Melanie Griffith. (Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)
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The two were married for 18 years before Griffith filed for divorce in June 2014, citing irreconcilable differences. They went on to finalize their divorce a little over a year later, in December 2015.
“When we separated, we were always very sincere. And now she is, if not my best friend, one of my best friends,” Banderas explained.
While married to Griffith, Banderas was stepfather to her two children, Alexander Bauer and actress Dakota Johnson.
When speaking to E! News in February 2025, Banderas admitted he “would love to work with Dakota someday,” not only because she is his family, but “because she’s a good actress.”
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Banderas said he would love to work with Johnson on a film. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
“She’s a good actress in many different ways, because she’s a great comedian, too,” he said. “She developed now her career more in drama, but I remember when she did a TV show called Ben and Kate that I got a lot of fun [out of seeing] her on the screen, because she got the rhythm of comedy, too.”
Banderas is currently starring in the Anthony Bourdain biopic “Tony,” but got his big break in mainstream American films in the 1993 movie “Philadelphia.”
He went on to star in “Interview with the Vampire,” “Desperado,” “The Mask of Zorro” and others, including “Pain and Glory” in 2020, which earned him an Academy Award nomination.
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During an interview with The Times in March, Banderas reflected on the early days of his career, and recalled being told upon his arrival in Hollywood that he was there “like the Blacks and the Hispanics, to play the bad guys.”
Banderas recalled being told he would never play anything except a villain in Hollywood. (Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty Images)
“The problem was, a few years later, I had a mask, hat, sword and cape and the bad guy was Captain Love, who was blond and had blue eyes,” he said. “Even more important is ‘Puss in Boots,’ because it’s for young kids. They see a cat that has a Spanish, even an Andalusian accent, and he’s a good guy.”
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