Dakota Johnson and her ex-stepdad Antonio Banderas have a great relationship, but the actress just let slip just how close they are. While hosting an intimate screening with her mom Melanie Griffith for Antonio’s upcoming movie Pain & Glory, the 30-year-old star revealed she calls him “Papi.”
Before revealing the sweet nickname Dakota has for Antonio, she and her mom introduced the actor to the audience, praising his work in the film. Melanie, who was married to the Spanish actor for 19 years, remain close friends and thanked him for bringing passion into their lives. “I’d just like to say that in the twenty years that you and I and the kids lived together, you taught us to live life full of passion and to live everyday as though it was a piece of art because passion is your art and your art is your life,” she told him before passing the mic to her daughter. “I’m so excited to see Pain & Glory! Aren’t you Dakota,” she laughed.
“Yes, mom,” Dakota quipped back. “I didn’t write a speech, but Papi you should come and talk about your movie.” She added: “I’m really excited to see it. Thank you guys for coming and supporting Antonio.” The actor then came up to hug Dakota and Melanie as the audience clapped for him. Antonio has been candid in the past about his close relationship with Melanie, despite getting divorced.
“Melanie is not my wife anymore, but I think she is my best friend,” he told PEOPLE. “I love her and will love her until the day I die. She’s my family.” He also opened up about raising both Dakota and Alexander Bauer with Melanie who she had from her previous two marriages. “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,” he explained. “Very soon they understood that. They called me Paponio, a mixture between Papa and Antonio.”