Antonio Banderas And Melanie Griffith’s Model Daughter Channels Her Iconic Grandmother After Going Blonde

Nov 21, 2023

Antonio Banderas’ daughter is all grown up now and looks absolutely gorgeous. She even resembles her stunningly gorgeous and extremely successful grandmother. Stella del Carmen Banderas has stardom in her blood. Her father, Antonio, and her mother, actress Melanie Griffith, have been public figures for quite some time, and now it is time for Stella to take her place in the spotlight.

Both Antonio and Griffith have made names for themselves over their long careers in the entertainment industry, mostly as actors and philanthropists. They have immersed themselves in their own projects over the years and have shifted their love from work to quality time when they settled down and started a family together.

Their marriage lasted for almost 20 years before the pair split in 2015. However, they have continued to stay friends and co-parent. Even though Griffith had children from previous marriages, Antonio took them in and treated them like his own and continues to spend time with them to this day. The blended family has continued to support each other and shown nothing but love and respect for each other, despite being apart. In fact, many members of the family have entered the entertainment industry, including their only shared daughter, Stella.

Now 27, Stella has grown into a stunning woman who shares similar passions with her creative parents. After dipping into modeling, the influencer’s beauty and vibe have led to a growing number of social media followers. While both of her parents are also known for their great looks, Stella has made an indelible mark due to her uncanny resemblance to her famous grandmother  Tippi Hedren.

Born Aug. 10, 1960, in Malaga, Spain, Antonio has become an international icon in the entertainment industry. He entered the scene in the 1980s and has since made a name for himself as a Spanish actor, director, producer, and singer. Some of his most notable roles include “Evita” in 1996, “The Mask of Zorro” in 1998, the “Spy Kids” series, and his role as Puss in Boots in the “Shrek” franchise and spin-off films.

As a child, Antonio showed interest in playing professional football in Spain until he broke his foot when he was 14, crushing his dreams. Luckily, he was incredibly talented in other areas and found a new interest in the performing arts. Antonio formed part of the ARA Theatre-School in Malaga, run by Angeles Rubio Arguelles y Alessandri, the wife of Spanish playwright and film director Edgar Neville.

Antonio continued to act and land roles, gaining more popularity with each job. In 1991, singer and actress Madonna helped Antonio break out in Hollywood. He had previously portrayed a love interest of hers in her pseudo-documentary film of one of her concert tours, Madonna: Truth or Dare. Antonio spoke minimal English but persisted with his dream of making it in America. 

He managed to land a critically praised role in “The Mambo Kings” in 1992, before reaching new heights with the film “Philadelphia” in 1993, opposite Tom Hanks. Madonna and Antonio were again reunited when they picked up key roles in the film “Evita,” an adaptation of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

All of his hard work had paid off, and Antonio continued to land great roles in plenty of feature films. He was honored for all his talents and work through a series of awards and accolades over the span of his career, including a Cannes Best Actor Award and European Film Award for Best Actor in 2019 for the film “Pain and Glory.” He has also been nominated for a handful of other awards, which include a Tony Award, an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Golden Globe Awards.

Over the span of his career, Antonio has still made time to find love, settle down and start a family. He met Griffith in 1995 while shooting “Two Much,” and the two instantly began dating. They got married soon after in May 1996 during a ceremony in London. Hello Magazine reported that the couple received the Stella Adler Angel Award in 2002 for their work as philanthropists. 

However, after nearly two decades of marriage, Antonio and Griffith announced their decision to divorce in June 2014. The separation was amicable, and they released a joint statement expressing their love and respect for each other. The divorce was finalized in December 2015, officially ending their long-lasting marriage.

Despite the end of their romantic relationship, Antonio and Griffith have maintained a friendly and supportive relationship, often speaking positively about each other in interviews. 

Griffith, born Aug. 9, 1957, in Manhattan, New York, is most famous for being an actress and film producer. She was raised in Los Angeles, California, where she graduated from the Hollywood Professional School when she was only 16 years old. Excelling in her studies, she was able to skip a grade and begin her pursuit as a professional actress.

Griffith’s career started in the 1970s, when she appeared in several independent films before she achieved mainstream success in the 1980s. She met her former husband, Don Johnson on the set of “The Harrad Experiment,” which was released in 1973. The two began dating, which resulted in a six-month marriage from January to July 1976.

The actress later appeared opposite her famous mother, Hedren, in the 1981 film “Roar.” Noel Marshall, her then-stepfather, directed and starred in the movie as well, as he and Hedren had come up with the project together. The film was incredibly dangerous and almost tumultuous to Griffith’s career, as USA Today reported she suffered an injury from a lion mauling during filming.

Aside from acting, Griffith has also made a name for herself as a philanthropist. She helped lead Walk for Kids, an effort in collaboration with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She also participated in the hospital's Noche de Niños gala as a presenter in 2012, an event that helped raise $2.6 million.

Although Antonio and Griffith have been broken up for a few years now, the two still have plenty of love and adoration for each other. During an interview with People Magazine in October 2020, Antonio talked more about how they have maintained such a strong relationship as co-parents and friends. 

“Melanie is not my wife anymore, but I think she is my best friend,” Antonio said. “I love her and will love her until the day I die. She’s my family.”

The actor shifted the conversation to talk about the daughter he and Griffith share together, Stella, who appears to have inherited her parents’ creativity. 

“She’s a natural writer,” Antonio said. “She was reading books since she was very little, and she loved to be behind the camera and all the attention.” 

He explained how he would love to know what goes on in her mind. “If you had a second life, I would love to just step in there,” Antonio said. “Maybe my daughter is just my second life.”

The famous actor and actress have only one biological daughter together, but Antonio still played a valuable role in raising Griffith’s other children from previous marriages. She was first married to Johnson, and the two had a daughter named Dakota Johnson together. Griffith’s second husband was Steven Bauer, and their marriage resulted in a son, Alexander Bauer.

Griffith’s oldest daughter, Dakota, became a movie star in her own rights thanks to her leading role as Anastasia Steele in the dark and romantic film series “Fifty Shades of Grey.” This makes Stella a half-sister to Dakota.

“I was there because I love their mother and I am totally taken with their mother, and they were the most important part of what she came with,” Antonio explained. “Very soon they understand that. They called me ‘Paponio,’ a mixture between Papa and Antonio.”

People reported that Antonio still spends holidays and other special occasions with Griffith and all of their kids. Looking back on their time together, Antonio recounted the family moments together as “beautiful years.”

Griffith has always shown plenty of love for all of her children and has made sacrifices to put them first, a fact Antonio corroborated. 

“Melanie decided to stay home when I was working outside the United States to give them the life they deserve to have like everybody else,” Antonio explained. “It was not fair for them just to be traveling all around the world.” 

This parenting tactic seems to have helped the children, as they have been given different outlooks on life and have been able to see new perspectives. “I think now that it was very interesting because they knew other realities,” Antonio added.

Now that young Stella has grown into her adult appearance, it is clear that she most resembles her incredibly famous grandmother, Hedren, with their emotive eyes and sharp features. Hedren’s daughter, Griffith, was also a lookalike of her when she was younger. 

Hedren was born Nathalie Kay Hedren on Jan. 19, 1930, in Minnesota. She picked up the nickname “Tippi” and made a name for herself as an actress, fashion model, and animal rights activist. During her career, Hedren acquired a plethora of awards and accolades for her work in the entertainment industry, as well as her time and effort spent supporting social issues.

Director Alfred Hitchcock discovered Hedren when he saw her in a television commercial in 1961. He cast her in his suspense-thriller “The Birds,” which helped her receive worldwide recognition as an actress. The iconic actress also won a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year in 1964 for her role in the successful film.

One of Hedren’s best-known qualities was her ability to display an array of emotions through just a look, something she portrayed well in “The Birds” and “Marnie,” both Hitchcock films. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003.

Animal rights and rescue have been a big part of Hedren’s life. She spent more than 10 years working on the movie “Roar” to help raise awareness for animal rights and wildlife conservation. Hedren also started her own non-profit organization, the Roar Foundation, in collaboration with the Shambala Preserve, which works in the care of the preservation of lions and tigers in Acton, California.

Her granddaughter, Stella, was born on Sept. 24, 1996, in Marabella, Spain. She appeared onscreen with her mother in the film “Crazy in Alabama” in 1999, which also just so happened to be her father’s directorial debut. Although the role was uncredited, Stella also made a guest appearance in the television series “Banzai” in 2003.

Stella has acquired a huge following on social media, surpassing 226,000 followers on Instagram. She is also the founder of an up-and-coming health and beauty company, Lightbound. Stella announced that she had "put all her love and energy" into working on a "genderless, handcrafted, and sustainably packaged perfume oil" in an Instagram post and tagged the health and beauty company.

Much like her grandmother, Stella has embarked into the world of modeling and signed with Vision in Los Angeles. With plenty of campaigns and stunning photoshoots in her repertoire, it’s no surprise that this beauty graced the cover of Glamour Magazine in 2020. The model looked delicate with her glowy makeup and bold red lip, although her green eyes stole the show, piercing through the photographs.

Many are now only realizing how gorgeous Antonio and Griffith’s daughter is, with many discovering her inherited good looks after she appeared in a campaign for the fashion brand 101p100. She garnered lots of attention after posting photos of herself in vintage brand Line of One’s crop tops in March 2021, with many commenting on just how stunning she looked. 

“Wow beauty runs in your family,” one user remarked, while another said, “beautiful like her mother and sister.”

On Nov. 16, 2023, Stella showed off her good looks again in an Instagram post with photos of her wearing and promoting Rabat Jewellery. Now sporting beautiful blonde locks, Stella wore a chic black dress with white lace details as she posed on a bed in one photo, while in another, she donned a sleek tuxedo blazer as she lounged on a sofa. The photos ignited fervor among her fans as well as her mother, who commented with three heart emojis. Others called Stella “a beauty” “pretty,” “stunning” and a “gorg girl.”

Clearly, there is stardom in this family’s bloodline. Stella is no stranger to the spotlight as her parents Antonio and Griffith, have both made headlines over the many years of their careers. Talent must be in the water as Griffith went on to pursue a great career of her own after being raised by actress and former model Hedren. Only time will tell if Stella will continue on in her path in the entertainment industry, but what’s certain is that she looks absolutely beautiful, just like her grandmother.

Do you see the resemblance between Stella Banderas and her famous grandmother, Tippi Hedren? Do you have a close resemblance to your own grandmother? Let us know, and be sure to send this to your family and friends for their thoughts, too!