Antonio Banderas' love for Dakota Johnson is uncharted.
In the decade since the Zorro actor and her mom Melanie Griffith—who married in 1996 when Dakota was 5 years old—ended their 18-year marriage, his bond with Fifty Shades alum has remained strong. So strong, in fact, that he can see them collaborating on a movie.
"I would love to," Antonio exclusively told E! News' Will Marfuggi in an interview that aired Feb. 6. "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."
The Paddington in Peru star, whose new movie is out on Valentine's Day, clarified that he'd like to work with the Madame Web actress "not just because" they’re family—but also because of her talent.
"It's because she's a good actress," Antonio gushed of Dakota, who made her acting debut in the first movie he directed, 1999's Crazy in Alabama. "She's a good actress in many different ways, because she's a great comedian, too."
He explained, "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."
The 64-year-old finished by saying that "maybe [they could do] a comedy someday" together.
His kind words for Dakota, 35—whose dad is Don Johnson—follow their reunion in Málaga, Spain, last summer, where the actress visited Antonio, who was directing a Spanish version of the '70s musical They're Playing Our Song at his Teatro del Soho CaixaBank theater.
The actor—who has been dating Nicole Kimpel since 2014—shared an adorable selfie with Dakota from her visit, writing on Instagram in July, "Happiness: Dakota in Malaga!"
The Lost Daughter star had previously shed light on the special bond that she's maintained with Antonio throughout her life.
"I come from a family of many a marriage and I got very lucky," Dakota said in 2019 at the Hollywood Film Awards, where she presented Antonio with the Hollywood Actor Award for his performance in Pain and Glory. "I got a bonus dad who I realized that, over time, is actually one of the most influential people in my whole life."
Keep reading for more about Dakota and Antonio's relationship.
Dakota Johnson had her first acting role in Antonio Banderas' directorial debut, 1999's Crazy in Alabama, which starred her mother, Melanie Griffith. Johnson played Sondra in the movie, which didn't mark the first time she had spent time with her stepfather on a set, telling Architectural Digest that she once delivered an Easter basket to Madonna while Banderas was filming Evita with the pop star in Budapest in 1996.
Those memories are still cherished by Banderas, who previously said, "She's my daughter, I love her. I've been with her on my shoulders, traveling all around the world."
While Johnson wowed in a gold Gucci dress at the 2017 Academy Awards, it wasn't the first time she attended the major event. In 2000, a then 10-year-old Johnson accompanied her stepfather and mom to the Oscars. Wearing a purple dress and jacket, Johnson even did interviews with the couple, chatting with the late Joan Rivers, adorably turning to Griffith to ask, "Um...is it?" when Rivers asked if this was her first Oscars.
"Dakota called me Paponio, which is a mixture between papa, which is 'daddy' in Spanish, and Antonio," he told Vulture of the adorable nickname she had given him while growing up. "I am her Antonio papa, so Paponio."
Johnson got emotional when she presented an award to Banderas at the 2019 Hollywood Film Awards.
"I come from a family of many a marriage and I got very lucky," Johnson, whose dad is actor Don Johnson, said. "I got a bonus dad who I realized that, over time, is actually one of the most influential people in my whole life," she said. "When I was six years old, my mother married a man who brought an unbelievably bright light and a whole new world of creativity and culture—and one remarkably magical little sister into our family."
Tearing up, Johnson continued, "My stepfather—f*#k! Antonio Banderas burst into our lives. He was so vibrant and so fun and so funny and his English was abstract and we found it absolutely amazing. He loved my mother, and my siblings and I so big, and so fiercely and so loud, that it would change all of our lives together."
After accepting the award, Banderas returned the favor, sweetly shouting out Johnson and her sister, Stella, 25.
"I want to dedicate this to two people that I love, one is right here, Dakota, for something very simple, because you always call me papi, and still now you call me papi and I love that!" the Pain and Glory actor said on stage. "You have no idea how much I love that!"
At the 31st Palm Springs International Film Festival several weeks later, Banderas revealed to E! News that he had no idea that Johnson would be giving such a touching speech.
"It was all a surprise," he said. "Totally. I mean, I knew that she was going to give the speech, but I had no idea whatsoever how she was going to just do her speech, she didn't tell me anything."
It was a poignant moment as it confirmed to him that the two decades they spent as a family meant just as much to her as they did to him.
"I thought and felt that all of those years," Banderas admitted. "But I knew that it was a confirmation that all of those years that Melanie and I spent together, they were years that was not only just about Melanie and me, they were about the family. They were worth it all."