Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas first crossed paths at the 1989 Academy Awards, but their real spark ignited years later on the set of the 1995 romantic comedy Two Much. Both were married to other people at the time, and what started as on-set chemistry turned into something neither of them could ignore. Banderas later admitted it moved very fast and was almost compulsive, even though they were both still tied to other marriages at the time.
They married in May 1996, and their daughter, Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith, was born that same year. For nearly two decades, they were considered one of Hollywood’s most solid celebrity couples — a rarity in an industry known for short-lived romances.
Griffith filed for divorce in Los Angeles in June 2014, citing irreconcilable differences after 18 years of marriage. The split shocked fans who had watched them build a life together, including Banderas directing his then-wife in 1999’s Crazy in Alabama.
Rumors swirled at the time about a possible affair involving Sharon Stone, but Stone publicly denied any romantic involvement, saying Banderas was like a brother to her and that she considered the family her own. The rumor never held up, and most accounts point instead to a slower unraveling.
Griffith herself later opened up about her side of it. She told Porter magazine that a big part of why the marriage fell apart was that she felt stuck in her own life — not because of infidelity or wrongdoing, but because she was going through a personal crisis and needed to figure out who she was outside the marriage. She also briefly joked, then walked back, a comment suggesting their relationship had added stress around the time she was managing her epilepsy diagnosis — later clarifying on Instagram that she still loved Banderas and wasn’t blaming him or the marriage.
Their divorce was finalized in 2015, dividing their business interests in several projects they’d worked on together, including their shared stakes tied to the Shrek franchise, where Banderas voices Puss in Boots.
What sets Griffith and Banderas apart from most exes is what came after. Rather than fading into bitterness, they’ve maintained a close, cooperative friendship built around their daughter. The two were recently photographed together with Stella, and Banderas has spoken about a warm reunion with Griffith during a visit that also included Stella’s husband, Alex Gruszynski.
Banderas has moved on romantically — he’s been with Dutch businesswoman Nicole Kimpel since 2015, and the two live together in his hometown of Málaga, Spain. Griffith, for her part, has said in the past that she hasn’t been in a rush to date again, preferring time with close friends.
Despite the divorce, both have continued to speak fondly of one another publicly, framing their years together — and their shared parenting of Stella — as something worth protecting rather than erasing. In an industry full of messy splits, Griffith and Banderas remain a rare example of exes who chose peace over public feuding.
