Melanie Griffith: Antonio Was 'Amazing' During My Health Struggle

By Jeffrey Slonim and Stephen M. Silverman

Update Thursday April 22, 2010 10:50 AM EDT Originally posted Thursday April 22, 2010 10:15 AM EDT

Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas

Gregory Pace/REX USA

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Having said she's beaten back the "monster" she calls her 30-year-old substance-abuse problems, an elegant Melanie Griffith looked the picture of health at her husband Antonio Banderas's side for Wednesday's opening of New York's Tribeca Film Festival. It was certainly a cause for many celebrations.

"He did everything," Griffith 52, told PEOPLE about Banderas's help during her struggle. (Last August, Griffith entered rehab for the third time, following stints in 1988 and 2000.) "He has been an amazing man."

"It's tough," Banderas, 49, admitted to PEOPLE, as he and Griffith appeared on the red carpet for the animated feature Shrek Forever After, in which the handsome Spaniard is not seen but heard – as the swashbuckling feline Puss in Boots.

RELATED: Melanie Griffith No Longer Feeding the 'Monster' of Addiction

Of his wife's return to health, he said, "The entire family participated in the process of rehabilitation. We went to the place where she was doing it, we participated in all the therapies … everything, everybody in the family. It's tough, but at the same time, very rewarding."

Besides Banderas, Griffith's family includes her mother, '60s screen star Tippi Hedren, 80; son Alexander (whose father is Griffith's second husband, actor Steven Bauer), 24; daughter Dakota (with her former husband Don Johnson), 20; and daughter (with Banderas) Stella, 13.

Having Griffith back in top shape must be wonderful, Banderas was asked. "Absolutely," he told PEOPLE, beaming as he spoke. "We are stronger right now than we were."

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