Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas's Relationship Timeline: A Look Back

While many romances between actors first blossom on set, the vast majority don't turn into successful, long-term relationships. However, there are certain La La Land love affairs that go the distance, or at least, up until a point. Oscar-nominated actress Melanie Griffith and Emmy-nominated actor Antonio Banderas were one of the longest-running marriages in Hollywood. No one expected them to last, and while they ultimately didn't, they spent nearly 20 years trying.

Early on, the pair even weathered hurricane Madonna together — the pop singer (and Banderas's Evita co-star) made her interest in the actor evident, but Griffith foiled her plan. Regardless of what was going on behind the scenes, they always came together for their children. In fact, happy family Griffith and Banderas was hands-down the best iteration of the pair — both then and now.

Here's a look back at Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas's relationship.

March 29, 1989: Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas first meet

A 29-year-old Banderas was enamored with Griffith, then 32, from the first moment he saw her at the Academy Awards in 1989 (which she attended with then-husband Don Johnson). 

"I saw this beautiful woman with a cream dress, with pearls," he recalled, per ABC News, soon after asking Spanish director Pedro Almodovar who she was.

As for their first conversation? "The first thing he asked me was my age," Griffith told AARP in 2011. "I said, 'That's the rudest thing anyone has asked me first.' But there was something about him."

1995: Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas co-star in the film Two Much

After Banderas first laid eyes on his wife-to-be at the 1989 Oscars, fate threw the pair together again when they were cast alongside Daryl Hannah in the 1995 rom-com Two Much. Both parties were married at the time — Griffith to actor Johnson (for the second time) and Banderas to Spanish actress Ana Leza.

"It was very, very fast and very compulsive, but at the same time, we were tied at the time," Banderas said of their dynamic on set. "We tried as much as we could to be respectful. We just thought this may be one of those, you know, infatuation moments that we have when we shoot movies because we got to play together a couple, so let's just go home.

May 14, 1996: Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas get married

Though Griffith was accused by Leza of "stealing” her husband, according to The New York Times, she and Banderas wed in London in May 1996. Per E! News, the wedding was "low-key" and took place one month after each of their divorces were finalized. 

September 24, 1996: Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas welcome their first child together

In September 1996, they welcomed a daughter together: Stella Banderas.

In addition to Stella, Griffith shares daughter and Fifty Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson with ex-husband Don and son Alexander Griffith Bauer with her second husband, actor Steven Bauer. She's also stepmother to Don's son, Jesse, whom he shares with actress Patti D'Arbanville.

November 22, 2002: Melanie Griffith discusses getting banned from Evita set while Antonio Banderas was filming

In 1996, Banderas and Madonna were filming Evita with an allegedly jealous, or perhaps just cautious, Griffith watching their every move — at least, according to the media. The drama got so overblown in the press that Griffith said she was banned from the Evita set.

"Madonna was after him publicly," she revealed during a 2002 appearance on Larry King Live. "I was pregnant when he was doing Evita. I was pregnant — I had just gotten pregnant, and I went with him. So the press made a big thing about how Melanie's watching over Antonio, and she won't leave him alone with Madonna because she's afraid that Madonna's going to — the "Material Girl" — will steal him. And — it really wasn't the case." 

Once the story got out, Banderas's co-workers turned against Griffith. 

"I was hurt because I was banned from the set. They didn't let me go on the set," she added.

Drama aside, nothing ever happened between Madonna and Banderas. 

"I wished," Madge told Howard Stern in 2015 on hooking up with the Spanish actor. "I had a big crush on him, [but] he was with Melanie Griffith. She never left his side."

June 6, 2014: Melanie Griffith files for divorce from Antonio Banderas

Griffith and Banderas announced their "loving and friendly" split in 2014, reported People. A source told the outlet that the couple "had issues for years," which only grew as Banderas continued to travel abroad for work.

Griffith also opened up about her history of seizures, which she attributed to the enormous stress she had been feeling. 

"I've been on a drug for four years … I haven't had a seizure, which is amazing — but I also got divorced, which I think is the real healer for me," she said in 2017 during a panel talk (via Page Six). "I mean it! I am not stressed anymore!"

Dissolution of their marriage aside, Banderas has retained a great love for Griffith. When discussing her skin cancer scare, Banderas told Entertainment Tonight in 2018, "I will love that woman until the day I die."

In the years since his split from the Working Girl star, Banderas has been romantically linked to banker Nicole Kimpel. As for Griffith, after four divorces, she implied she was over the whole marriage thing. 

"I really don't think it's relevant for anyone anymore," she told InStyle, "but especially if you're 60 and you have four kids and you're living the life you've always wanted. Then why get married? It's, like, I would love to fall in love and have a romance, a relationship, but I haven't. I keep looking. I've had a couple of lovers but not a relationship."

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