How Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith Went From Amazing Couple to Best Friends

When a relationship comes to an end, it can be difficult to understand and overcome all the emotions that we experience. However, the fact that there is no longer a couple as such does not necessarily mean that there cannot be a friendship or an excellent relationship with that other special person. After all, they likely played an important role in your life.

Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith are an example of that kind of connection, and that’s why we at Bright Side wanted to share their story with you. A love story, but above all a story of friendship that endures despite everything.

Antonio Banderas, an actor who was just making a name for himself in Hollywood, and Melanie Griffith, an acclaimed star by then, met in 1989 when they both attended the 61st Academy Awards.

While the actress walked down the red carpet, Antonio was attending the Oscars for the first time with director Pedro Almodóvar as part of the cast of the film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

About his first time attending, Antonio said years later: “The first time I went to the Oscars, when they nominated Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, we got to the red carpet, and suddenly I saw a blonde woman who looked familiar because I had seen her in movies, but at the time I didn’t remember her name. So I said to Pedro: ’Who is she, who is she, what’s her name,’ and Pedro said to me: ’Antonio, it’s Melanie Griffith.’ And I said, ’That’s it, that’s it. Oh, my God.’”

6 years later, in 1995, while they were both starring in the Spanish romantic comedy Two Much, romance knocked at their door. By then, Antonio had already managed to appear in big Hollywood productions alongside actors like Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, and Brad Pitt. He had also already been divorced for a while from his ex-wife, Ana Leza. Melanie had also just divorced her second husband, Don Johnson.

Melanie said about that moment: “I fell in love with Antonio right away. He was a crush.”

Antonio proposed shortly after they began their relationship on a beach in North Carolina. They married in May 1996 and in September they welcomed their only daughter together, Stella del Carmen.

Melanie already had two children from her previous marriages, Alexander and Dakota, who became children to Antonio.

Their marriage lasted 18 years and ended by mutual agreement in 2014, to the surprise of most of the couple’s followers. They put an end to a part of their life that was full of intensity and complicity. However, their friendship and family relationship will go on forever.

The Spanish actor mentioned the good relationship that bring them together despite their divorce. In one interview, he said: “I remember those years as a very effervescent and beautiful time. I am no longer married to Melanie, but she is my family. She’s probably one of my best friends, if not the best. My family is there: Dakota, little Stella and Alexander.”

Melanie has also made it more than clear that love and admiration are common in their relationship. On social media, she can’t stop supporting Antonio and at the same time remembering the time they got to spend together.

“Happy Birthday to my ruggedly handsome ex-husband Antonio! I will always love you,” she wrote in a post. She also posted: “CONGRATULATIONS ANTONIO!!! Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor!! I am so happy for you and so proud of you!! Bravo Guapo!!!”

With these statements, the well-known actors publicly and openly demonstrate that the end of their marriage did not put an end to their good relationship, and neither did that of Melanie’s children with Antonio. This is how Dakota put it: “My stepfather, Antonio Banderas, burst into our lives. He was so vibrant and so funny, and his English was... abstract. And we found it absolutely amazing. He loved my mother and my siblings and I so fiercely, so big and so loud that it would change all of our lives forever.”

Melanie and Antonio had a marriage with its ups and downs (like everyone else), they enjoyed their time together and knew how to live their love to the fullest. But they also knew when it was time to go their separate ways without losing the great love they have for each other.

These two actors are the living proof that it is possible to maintain a good relationship with the ex-spouse, keep the respect and even become great friends and confidants.

How is your relationship with your ex-partner? Do you think it is possible to have a good relationship with an ex?