Once upon a time, on August 10, 1960, a boy was born in Málaga, Spain. At home, they called him Nonito, but the world would come to know him as Antonio Banderas. “Sixty-five years!…” the actor shared with ¡HOLA! Spain on the eve of his birthday. “It sounds like a lot, but in my mind, I still feel the same curiosity and energy I had as a young dreamer in Málaga.”
Like another global Spanish icon, Julio Iglesias, Banderas once dreamed of becoming a soccer player, even joining Málaga’s youth team, until an injury at age fourteen changed his course forever. At 19, with little more than a sandwich and 15,000 pesetas in his pocket (“My mother sewed hidden pockets into my clothes in case someone tried to rob me”), he took a leap of faith and headed to Madrid. The capital city was then alive with the spirit of la Movida and the cinematic revolution of Pedro Almodóvar, and it was a city of endless possibilities.
Back in Málaga, when the teacher took attendance, he was José Antonio Domínguez Bandera. Decades later, in Hollywood, all would fall silent when they heard one name: Antonio Banderas.
© Getty Images“The years go by, but my appetite for life doesn’t fade,” he reflects, especially now, a milestone birthday coinciding with a milestone in his personal life. His daughter, Stella del Carmen, “the apple of my eye”, is putting the final touches on her wedding to Alex Gruszynsky, a celebration that will unite Hollywood and Spain. “I couldn’t be happier or prouder,” he says with his signature warmth. “Watching my daughter grow up and now take such an important step…It’s indescribable.”
“Seeing my daughter dressed as a bride will be one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I get to be the father of the bride, and it’s a role I take on with all the emotion in the world.”
© Getty ImagesA Journey Full Circle
Who would have told the young man leaving beloved Málaga in search of his dreams that he’d one day return as a theater entrepreneur, bringing culture back to his hometown? Banderas has never forgotten his roots. He’s a whirlwind of ideas and projects, always creating.
In 1992, he packed his bags for Hollywood, carrying Málaga in his heart, a heart that gave him a scare years later. On January 26, 2017, while at his country home in London, he suffered a heart attack at age 56. Determined to keep moving forward, he refocused his energy on his hometown and his greatest passion, the theater. “Every wrinkle on my face tells a story, a lesson, and I’m grateful for every single one,” he says.
© Steve GranitzFrom the Málaga School of Dramatic Arts to the hard early days in Madrid, until Almodóvar put him in front of the camera (Labyrinth of Passion, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), his career has been cinematic in itself. “I’ve always believed life is a grand stage, and I’ve been lucky enough to stand on many, from the theaters of my hometown to Hollywood’s biggest studios.”
Hollywood gave him its heart, both figuratively and literally. In 1995, while filming Fernando Trueba’s Two Much, he met Melanie Griffith. They fell in love, married, and had Stella. Although this year marks a decade since their divorce, they’ve kept a warm, respectful relationship, especially now, as they both joyfully anticipate their daughter’s wedding this October to her preschool crush-turned-best friend-turned-love of her life.
“I couldn’t be happier or prouder. Watching my daughter grow up and now take this important step is an indescribable emotion.”
© IG: @antoniobanderasA Long-Awaited Wedding
“It’s a long-awaited wedding, and we’re all thrilled, because Alex has been like family since they were kids,” Antonio says. Father and daughter have always shared a close bond, balancing her American upbringing with his Spanish heritage. Stella has been actively involved in Banderas’s beloved Teatro del Soho CaixaBank in Málaga.
Now, it’s Antonio’s turn, with longtime partner Nicole Kimpel by his side, to walk Stella down the aisle. “Having her get married in Spain fills me with pride,” he tells ¡HOLA!. “She’s very Andalusian, very much from Málaga, even if she grew up in the U.S. This is her way of reconnecting with her roots and sharing her homeland with her future husband and his family.”
© Getty Images“It will be an intimate celebration, surrounded by our dearest loved ones. We want it to be a moment for family and friends, without great fanfare.”
Banderas won’t share every detail, but says the ceremony will be “intimate, surrounded by our loved ones…exactly what Stella and Alex want, and what we, as parents, respect and support.”
Come October, the exact date still under wraps, the family will gather in Spain to celebrate the union of two people whose story began at Wagon Wheel School in Los Angeles, and who got engaged in August 2024.
© Getty Images“Seeing my daughter in her wedding dress will be one of the most beautiful moments of my life,” he admits. “Now it’s my turn to be the father of the bride, and it’s a role I take on with all the emotion in the world.”
A Turning Point
Born in Marbella on September 24, 1996, Stella grew up in Los Angeles but always stayed connected to Málaga, spending countless Holy Weeks with her father in Andalusia. Earlier this year, she and her fiancé made a trip to Spain as a prelude to their “I do.”
© Michael Kovac“I also feel proud to have been a bridge between Spanish cinema and international cinema. And it moves me to see how the new generations of Spanish actors are succeeding all over the world.”
“My family, especially my daughter, plays an essential role in helping me understand my place in the world,” Banderas recently shared.
The man who once charmed Hollywood as Zorro continues to play many roles: actor, father, soon-to-be father-in-law, partner, ex-husband, entrepreneur, and tireless champion of the arts. “I still have characters to play and stories to tell,” he says without hesitation.
© Carlos AlvarezLife has taken him away from Málaga and brought him back again. “My passion for theater, which I’ve reignited with the Soho CaixaBank Theater, is a return to my roots,” he explains. “At the end of the day, what matters most is the live connection with the audience, the magic of being here and now.”
© Europa Press NewsNow at 65, with his daughter’s wedding on the horizon, he’s reflective yet energized, “I’m proud to have been a bridge between Spanish cinema and the international film world. It moves me to see a new generation of Spanish actors thriving worldwide. Talent knows no borders.”
And he’s been proving that since the ’90s. Time has passed, but his spark is as bright as ever.
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