Jordan Karlesson
Antonio Banderas is widely considered Spain’s most famous actor of all time (although Javier Bardem isn’t too far behind). Most of us know him for suiting up as Zorro, playing the dad in the first three Spy Kids movies — and his nine-year marriage to Melanie Griffin.
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What isn’t discussed nearly as often is that Griffin is the mother of, and Banderas was the stepdad of, actress Dakota Johnson.
Let’s take a look at Banderas’ and Johnson’s respective careers — and how their family life transitioned after Griffin and Banderas divorced seven years ago this month.
Antonio Banderas and His 40 Years of Domination: Part I
An overview of Elton John’s career isn’t complete without a discussion about his longtime collaborator, lyricist. Likewise, any examination of Antonio Banderas’ professional life necessitates discussion about director Pedro Almodóvar’s integral role in it.
Almodóvar gave Banderas his first big break with a small role in the director’s wacky comedy from 1982, Labyrinth of Passion.
After the director and the actor separately made a handful of other films, they reunited for 1986’s Matador. Banderas began drawing more attention thanks to his starring role in the erotic thriller.
Clearly fans of one another, they collaborated three more times almost right away. Those movies included 1987’s Law of Desire, 1988’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and 1990’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
In the mid-1990s, however, Antonio Banderas’ star was rising so quickly that he changed gears and started acting in English-language movies. While his role as Tom Hanks’ lover in 1993’s Philadelphia was relatively minor, he gained significant attention due to the cultural importance of the film.
Antonio Banderas and His 40 Years of Domination: Part II
After Philadelphia, Banderas’ career grew by leaps and bounds. He was in the main cast of 1994’s Interview with the Vampire, played the lead role in 1995’s Desperado, and costarred with Madonna in the musical Evita.
Also, Banderas found a new collaborator in director Robert Rodriguez. In addition to Desperado, they launched the lucrative Spy Kids franchise in 2001 and made 2003’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in which Banderas returned as the El Mariachi character he played in Desperado.
Banderas teamed with various directors for a few other notable films, like Frida (2002), The Mask of Zorro (1998), and The Legend of Zorro (2005). After that movie, Antonio Banderas went through a bit of a slump — until he reunited with Almodóvar for 2011’s skin-crawlingly creepy The Skin I Live In.
Banderas made a few more duds, but by that point, it seems he figured out Almodóvar was his ace in the hole. The pair joined forces again for 2019’s Pain and Glory — the movie for which Banderas finally earned his first Oscar nomination. Additionally, he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for his portrayal of an artist addicted to heroin and on the decline.
Last year, he rejoined another frequent collaborator, Penelope Cruz, for the well-received comedy Official Competition.
Antonio Banderas currently has a handful of other movies on the way, and one of them could make more money than most of his previous movies combined: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. In Harrison Ford’s last ride as the adventuresome archeologist, Banderas will play his friend Renaldo, Collider reported last month.
Dakota Johnson Isn’t Competing with Her Dad
Dakota Johnson is the daughter of another famous actor, Don Johnson — hence her last name. In classic Hollywood fashion, Griffith actually married Don Johnson twice and divorced him twice. Somewhere in the mix, Griffith gave birth to Dakota in October 1989.
Ten years later, Dakota Johnson embarked on her acting career. After all, as a kid with three parents as famous actors, it made sense.
Her first cinematic endeavor came courtesy of the 1999 comedy-drama Crazy in Alabama. Keeping it in the family to an extent, Banderas was behind the camera for the movie, and Griffith was its star.
Dakota Johnson hasn’t yet built up an oeuvre nearly as extensive as any of her parents. That’s no surprise, as she’s only 33 years old.
Nonetheless, Griffith’s daughter and Banderas’ former stepdaughter carry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_lwsAIBvXA some admirable credits. She co-starred Shia LaBeouf in 2019’s The Peanut Butter Falcon — the highest-grossing indie film of that year, according to Variety.
Two years later, Dakota Johnson played one of the main roles in The Lost Daughter, a harrowing psychological drama and the first film directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Her other credits include 2015’s Black Mass, a crime drama centered around Whitey Bulger; a 2018 remake of Dario Argento’s Suspiria; and that same year’s trippy, Jeff Bridges-starring Bad Times at the El Royale.
But above all, Dakota Johnson — the romantic partner of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin since 2017 — is best known for her starring role in the Fifty Shades franchise. And if you don’t know what those movies are about, you’re probably on the wrong website.
Banderas, Griffith Made Good on Promise to Stay Friends
Antonio Banderas remarried Melanie Griffith — who had two previous husbands of her own — in 1996. They had one of Hollywood’s highest-profile marriages during their time together.
The husband and wife also starred together in the 2014 sci-fi action movie Autómata, which — hard as it is to believe — they filmed during their divorce proceedings. The actors weren’t kidding when they publicly announced their split would be amicable.
Unfortunately for Banderas and Griffith, Autómata didn’t find favor among moviegoers or critics. That bummed out the spouses, who had hoped it would revive Griffith’s career.
But with that movie, the couple brought their relationship full-circle in an almost poetic fashion. They started dating while making the 1996 comedy flick Two Much and split during the production of a different film.
A Tried-and-True Hollywood Family
Bringing it back around to Antonio Banderas and Dakota Johnson, she said in November 2019 that she considers him to be a “bonus dad,” according to Refinery29.com.
“I come from a family of many a marriage, and I got very lucky,” Johnson said. “I got a bonus dad who I realized that, over time, is actually one of the most influential people in my whole life.”
She added: “When I was six years old, my mother married a man who brought an unbelievably bright light, a whole new world of creativity and culture and one remarkably magical little sister in to our family.”
With an outlook like that, one can’t help but think — or at least hope — that Dakota Johnson will continue to enjoy a very successful life, both personally and professionally.
