14 DAY TRIAL // Melanie Griffith filed for divorce from Antonio Banderas in early June, but contrary to ongoing reports, she’s not depressed or so terribly heartbroken about the end of their 18-year marriage as to lapse back to drinking and drugs: she’s actually “happy, really joyful.”
The actress made a surprise appearance at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, to promote her role in the short film “Thirst,” and in between gushing about her new and very exciting projects, she also talked a bit – for the first time ever since the papers were filed – about her personal life.
Rumors would have us believe that Antonio was the one who most wanted out of the marriage because Melanie had fallen off the wagon and was drinking and taking drugs again. The same rumors claim that the two had been fighting for years because of her addiction to plastic surgery too, and that life at home had been hell before they decided to go their separate ways.
From what Melanie told the press on her most recent appearance, as cited by Yahoo! Celebrity, the split was amicable. She for one is happy with how things stand right now, and at the same time, she’s excited about the future.
“I'm going to do a lot of things. I'm going to do Pippin on Broadway in January. It's not about my career now. It's just about finding great work and having a good time,” she said.
“My kids are almost grown. I'm getting divorced [from Antonio Banderas]. I'm just happy. I'm really joyful. Life is good,” Melanie continued, adding that she had also agreed to do a “silly comedy” with Bob Saget.
So, while the tabloids continue to run stories about how horrible Melanie is feeling these days because Antonio dumped her (presumably not before cheating on her too), or how they’re still fighting because they don’t have a prenup and they have a lot of assets in common, mostly real estate all over the world, remember this: Melanie herself wants you to know that she’s fine and that she’s happy.
In saying these things after so many weeks of rabid speculation on the state of her relationship with Antonio, she proves that, even though some golden unwritten Hollywood rule has it that all divorces must be nasty, two people who have shared so many beautiful years together can still act like adults.
So, whatever is going on between these two behind closed doors, kudos to Melanie for being so gracious about what must be a very difficult moment in her life.