BANDERAS AND GRIFFITH SPEAK TO AARP
Antonio Banderas And Melanie Griffith
Despite persistent rumors of infidelity and separation, a source recently told People magazine "They seem absolutely fine. Honestly, they seem happy."
Both Banderas and Griffith spoke candidly about their marriage for AARP The Magazine’s November issue.
(Griffith’s quotes are below Banderas’)
On the secret to a successful marriage:
“The secret is that we had failures before. And love at the beginning is a rush. It’s big, full of energy, beautiful. But it doesn’t last like that. Melanie and I talked about that a lot.”
“That thing at the beginning disappeared, but it became something better. We discovered the value and warmth of family and what is home—that we can be stronger together.”
“Even in crisis, we have been patient enough to detect that at the end of the tunnel was a light. We have had as many problems as anybody. We’ve never hidden it. We’ve been open about addictions, in the case of Melanie. She has overcome her problems beautifully. I didn’t know she was so strong. It makes me love her even more, because she has been an unbelievable lion fighting, and she got it. The last [relapse] was three years ago, and it just welded us.”
On avoiding high profile infidelity (like that of Anthony Weiner and Arnold Schwarzenegger):
“It’s all about balance in life. We all need water, obviously, but I’m not going to drink the pool. [Laughs.] I think it’s very important that you know exactly where the limits are.”
“It’s a very, very personal issue how you deal with that. [You have to ask yourself ] if you are willing to damage what you have—your kids, your family, your friends. How do you deal in your sexual life with your wife? How rich can you make it in order to not have to look for something outside your marriage? What other things can you do, in your home? What are the things that you may tell her, or are you going to be always lying?”
On his chemistry with Griffith in 1995’s Two Much:
“I saw this sweet, vulnerable soul, funny, also very smart and generous. I saw her with her kids, and she was so beautiful as a mom.”
“It happens sometimes that you connect with your costar. It’s normal. But at the end of the movie, it’s just ‘delete’—you go home and it’s good-bye. But it didn’t happen. We kept calling each other on the phone all day long. And then one day we had to actually confront it. And we did. It was not easy.”
** Melanie Griffith on her husband, Antonio Banderas **
On how they keep their marriage going:
GRIFFITH: “We’re willing to change with each other, let old things die and new things be born. But it’s a constant endeavor.”
On what first attracted her to Banderas:
GRIFFITH: “Everything, really. His way. He’s very funny. The first thing he asked me was my age. I said, ‘That’s the rudest thing anyone has asked me first. ’But there was something about him. Still is. I just love him.”
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