Antonio Banderas is glad that he's left behind "all that Latin lover sh*t".

The Spanish actor is famed for his hunky good looks and heroic roles in films including Evita and The Mask of Zorro.

Now at the age of 51, Antonio is relieved to shake off his reputation from high-profile roles he's played in his past.

"[I can finally] get away from all that Latin lover sh*t," he exclaimed in an interview with British newspaper The Times.

Antonio married actress Melanie Griffith in 1996, and has explained the secret to their long-lasting union. The star says the key to their strong bond is that they love and respect each other unconditionally.

"The secret to our marriage is as complicated and as simple as: we love each other. We've gone past that first intoxicating rush of love, and we've stayed on the path through crises and difficulties, and now we've opened up the possibility of falling in love with each other again and again," he gushed.

Antonio is famed for his collaborations with Spanish director Pedro Almodvar. The pair worked on 2011 hit film The Skin I Live In, which was the first film they had made together since Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! in 1990.

Antonio says the reunion wasn't plain-sailing at first.

"During rehearsals, Pedro looked at my performance and said, What is this sh*t? I didn't call you for this. I called you to reinvent yourself, like I've reinvented myself. If you have the f**king balls to come here, we're going to go down into the mud to that place where it hurts,'" he recalled.

"He was a pain in the ass, yes. But when I saw the finished result, I said, I love him.'"