Melanie Griffith is a proud mom of three, including her daughter Stella Banderas Griffith.
On Saturday, June 8, Melanie, 67, shared a rare photo of Stella, 28, whom she shares with actor Antonio Banderas. The pair were joined by a friend, Siena Severino, at It’s Nova. “My beautiful daughter @stellabanderasgriffith and @sienaseverino and me celebrating the opening of @itsnova new photo/film studio in LA! It’s a gorgeous space, ready now !!” Melanie captioned the post.
She added that they have a family connection to the studio space — Alex Gruszynski, Stella’s fiancé, is one of the founders of Nova, a platform that connects freelancers in the entertainment industries with companies who will hire them.
“Congratulations to @alexgruszynski ( my future son in law ) and his partner @aidancullen1 on this new part of NOVA!! ❤️????????????❤️⭐️” Melanie also wrote.
Stella announced her engagement to Gruszynski on Instagram in August 2024. “I get to hang out with my favorite person on earth forever!!!!!!!! ????????????????????????????????????????????????????” she captioned a series of photos of her ring as well as childhood photos of the pair.
In the same month, Hola! Magazine reported Stella and Gruszynski have known one another since childhood and began dating in 2015 before their split in 2019. They got back together in 2023 following Stella’s split from Eli Meyer.
Melanie and her ex-husband Banderas welcomed Stella in September 1996. The pair married in May of the same year. Though they divorced in 2014, they remained close and Antonio continues to have a close relationship with Melanie’s daughter Dakota Johnson, who he helped raise.
While speaking to E! News in an interview that aired February 6, Banderas said that he’d love to work with Johnson on a movie one day. “I would love to,” he told the outlet. “I would love to, but that’s something that is very difficult. I will search for [a project], but I would love to work with Dakota someday.”
Banderas added, “It’s because she’s a good actress.” Johnson, 35, made her acting debut in Crazy in Alabama, the first movie Banderas directed, in 1999.
“She developed now her career more in drama, but I remember when she did a TV show called Ben and Kate that I got a lot of fun [out of seeing] her on the screen, because she got the rhythm of comedy, too,” he added.
Melanie and Banderas married when Johnson was 5. “She was 5 when I met her, when she became my family,” he told Us Weekly in January 2020. “I almost changed her nappies. She’s my daughter, I love her. I’ve been with her on my shoulders, traveling all around the world.”
