Date of birth 10 August 1960 Birth place Málaga, Andalucía, Spain Birth name José Antonio Domínguez Banderas Height 5' 9" (1.75 m)   Antonio Banderas is a Spanish film actor. He is best known for his notable roles as Zorro in The Mask of Zorro and El Mariachi in Desperado Puss in Boots in Shrek 2.

Born in Málaga, Spain, Antonio wanted to play soccer professionally. His dream crashed when he broke his foot at 14 years. Started acting afterwards. His father was a policeman and his mother a teacher. The movie, The Mambo Kings (1992), was done phonetically. Banderas started acting in theater and television in Madrid. A staple in the Pedro Almodóvar films of the 1980s, he crossed over to American films in 1992 with The Mambo Kings (1992).

Banderas divorced his first wife, Ana Leza, and in 1996 married actress Melanie Griffith, whom he had met during the shooting of Two Much. They have a daughter, Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith, who appeared in the film Crazy in Alabama, in which Griffith starred and which Banderas directed.

Banderas has invested his movie earnings in business marketing Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the USA. He is a long time supporter of the Real Madrid Football Club. While he talks in his native Andalusian Spanish with his family and Spanish press, he switches to the Castilian pronunciation when playing non-Andalusian roles or when dubbing his Hollywood performances.