Dakota Johnson praises ‘amazing’ stepdad Antonio Banderas, says he ‘taught me about true passion, discipline’

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Dakota Johnson isn’t wavering on her relationship with Antonio Banderas.

The “Suspiria” actress presented her “Zorro” stepfather with a Hollywood Actor Award on Sunday at the Hollywood Film Awards in Los Angeles and delivered a tribute to Banderas, 59, who was married to Johnson’s mother, Melanie Griffith, for nearly 20 years before the pair split in 2015.

“When I was 6 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 [Stella Banderas, 23] into our family,” Johnson, 30, told the audience.

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“My stepfather, Antonio Banderas, burst into our lives,” she continued. “He was so vibrant and so fun and so funny, and his English was abstract. We found it absolutely amazing. He loved my mother and my siblings and I so fiercely, and so big and so loud that it would change all of our lives forever.”

“Antonio taught me about true passion and discipline,” Johnson added.

Despite Banderas and Griffith’s split after their 18-year marriage, the “Desperado” star said he still loves his ex-wife and said she absolutely still remains “family.”

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"Everything happened in those years really fast," Banderas recently told Vulture. "My life was fast and fascinating if I actually see it in retrospective. I remember those years as very effervescent and really beautiful."

"She is probably one of my best friends, if not the best friend that I have. My family is there, Dakota [Johnson], Little Estella and Alexander," he added, referring also to Griffith’s 34-year-old son, Alexander, with Steven Bauer.

Antonio Banderas, right, and his then-wife, actress Melanie Griffith at the Gala premier of "The Other Man" at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 7, 2008 in Toronto. (The Associated Press)

In a 2018 interview with InStyle, Griffith said she maintains great relationships with all her exes.

"All of my husbands, my three husbands — I love them all so much, and we’re all very close," she gushed.

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Last Thursday, Banderas revealed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that he might not be alive today had it not been for his current, longtime girlfriend, model Nicole Kimpel saving his life when he endured a heart attack in January 2017.

"I was living life in a not nice way. I'm not a drinker. I was a smoker, which was probably one of the most stupid things I have ever done in my whole life," Banderas explained to Kimmel about his life habits prior to his heart attack. "I was very lucky, after all."

Antonio Banderas, left, winner of the Hollywood Actor Award, and Dakota Johnson pose in the press room during the 23rd Annual Hollywood Film Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 03, 2019 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

"The night before that I had this event, my girlfriend, she had a headache and we didn't have anything in the house. So she went out to buy something, a painkiller or whatever," Banderas recalled. "She bought this aspirin, which is the only thing that she found and she found the maximum one, I think it was five milligrams."

Banderas maintained that it was this bottle of aspirin that saved the multiple-time Golden Globe nominee’s life when he endured his heart attack the following day.

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Fox News’ Mariah Haas contributed to this report.