Alexa PenaVega Shares a Powerful Update on Grief Journey 8 Months After Stillbirth (Exclusive)
Alexa PenaVega and Daryl Sabara will always be superheroes in their households.
Especially because the Spy Kids costars' own children are now huge fans of their beloved 2001 action movie.
But that wasn't always the case, as PenaVega revealed her eldest Ocean, 6, took some time falling in love with the classic family film.
"I remember showing it to him years back and he was not interested at all," the 37-year-old—also mom to son Kingston, 5, and daughter Rio, 3, with husband Carlos PenaVega—told E! News' Will Marfuggi in an exclusive interview. "He was a big Sharkboy and Lavagirl fan. I was like, 'What the heck, dude?! You're cheating on me with Sharkboy and Lavagirl!' It was total betrayal."
Fast forward to today and all three of her youngsters now bond over Juni and Carmen's crime-fighting adventures.
"Because his little siblings watched him watch the movie and he thinks it's so cool now," PenaVega continued, "all of them are now watching the movie."
And Ocean's not just rewatching the film. He's also introducing it to new audiences.
"It's funny, I never really thought he thought anything of it until we were all on an airplane," she recounted. "I watch him grab the shirt of the guy next to him and he's like, 'Hey mister, you see my mom back there? She's in Spy Kids. And that's my dad, he's in Big Time Rush.' I'm like, 'What are you doing?!'"
While PenaVega's kids are bragging about their famous parents, Sabara's little ones with wife Meghan Trainor—Riley, 5, Barry, 2, and 5-month-old Mikey—still have trouble believing that's their dad on screen.
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"He'll do some double takes like, 'That's you?!'" Sabara, 34, joked to E! of Riley. "Or, if someone recognizes me, he'll go, 'How do they know you?' And I'm like, 'Don't worry about it. It's all good.'"
And though it’s been 15 years since their last outing as Carmen and Juni—the duo reprised their roles in 2002’s Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams, 2003’s Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and appeared in 2011’s Spy Kids: All the Time in the World—the franchise continues to mean a lot to the onscreen siblings.
So, to celebrate Spy Kids' 25th anniversary, PenaVega and Sabara recently surprised kids attending the Salvation Army's summer camp with a day of spy-themed fun and activities.
"It's so surreal, it honestly doesn't make sense that kids are still watching it today," Sabara reflected. "I think it just holds up to what a fun movie it is that 25 years later it still feels fresh."
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As for what lesson the costars want kids to take away from the movie, PenaVega emphasized "dreaming big" and being unafraid to follow their ambitions, just like Juni and Carmen.
Sabara echoed, "They had no fear. They used their imaginations and they dreamed big."
And, ultimately, PenaVega reminded fans, "Family wasn't just blood. It was a community coming together and working together to do good."
In honor of Spy Kids' 25th anniversary, keep reading to see the film's stars then and now.
Moviestore/Shutterstock, Paul Archuleta/Getty Images
After her breakout performance as Carmen Cortez in the Spy Kids film series, PenaVega went on to star in Sleepover and ABC Family's shortlived series Ruby & the Rockits. She also appeared in a series of action flicks, including Machete Kills, The Hunters and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For before competing on Dancing With the Stars in 2015. PenaVega has starred in several TV movies for Hallmark Channel since 2016 and currently voices a character on the animated hit The Casagrandes.
She married Big Time Rush member Carlos Pena Jr. in 2014, both taking PenaVega as their married name. The couple have two sons, Ocean and Kingston, and a daughter, Rio.
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Just 9 years old when he starred as Juni Cortez, Sabara went on to land recurring roles on Disney Channel's The Wizards of Waverly Place and Weeds. He's also lent his vocals to series such as Marvel's Avengers Assemble, Ultimate Spider-Man and Ben 10.
Sabara began dating pop star Meghan Trainor in 2016 and they got married in December 2018. The couple welcomed their first son Riley in 2021 and their second son Barry in 2023.
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After playing Ingrid, the matriarch of the Cortez family, Gugino appeared in films such as Night at the Museum, American Gangster, Watchmen and San Andreas.
She has starred in Netflix's hit horror series The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor.
Gugino has been with her partner Sebastián Gutiérrez since 1996.
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The Zorro star took on the role of Gregorio Cortez, the spy family patriarch, reprising the role for two follow-up films. In 2004, he began voicing the popular Shrek character Puss in Boots and also starred in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Frida and Take the Lead.
In 2018, he portrayed Pablo Picasso in the NatGeo anthology series Genius, earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his performance. The following year, Banderas was nominated for his first-ever Oscar for Pain and Glory.
Banderas was married to actress Melanie Griffith for almost a decade, with the couple divorcing in 2015. They have one daughter together, Stella Banderas.
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Known for playing villains, the Terminator 2 actor was the main antagonist of the first Spy Kids film, Mr. Lisp. Since then, his credits include Walk the Line, Bridge to Terabithia, Flags of Our Fathers and Gangster Squad.
On the small screen, Patrick starred on The X-Files, The Unit and From Dusk Til Dawn: The Series, as well as made cameos on True Blood, Community and Mayans M.C. Most recently, he appeared on The Walking Dead and MacGyver.
Patrick has been married to actress Barbara Hooper since 1990 and the couple have two children.
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A frequent collaborator with his second cousin and Spy Kids director Robert Rodriguez, Trejo's character Machete later got his own series of films that were decidedly less kid-friendly.
Trejo has starred in over 250 movies and TV shows, including Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, American Gods and The Flash. Most recently, he competed on The Masked Singer.
In 2016, the actor began opening restaurants in Los Angeles, including Trejo's Tacos, Trejo's Cantina and Trejo's Donuts and Coffee.
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The legendary Cheech & Chong star played Felix Gumm, a close family friend of the Cortezes who goes on to become the villain in the 2002 sequel.
Marin has lent his voice to several Disney films, including Oliver & Company, The Lion King, the Cars series, Coco and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. The Nash Bridges alum also appeared on TV series such as Lost, Grey's Anatomy and Jane the Virgin.
The actor married Natasha Rubin in 2009 and he's released two best-selling albums in the children's music genre.
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Following his time as Fegan Floop, the Tony winner went on to star in CBS' hit drama The Good Wife for six years, earning three Emmy nominations for his portrayal of crisis manager Eli Gold. Cumming also popped up on Doctor Who, Broad City and Prodigal Son, and made appearances in films such as X2, Burlesque and Battle of the Sexes and lent his voice to The Smurfs franchise.
Cumming has been married to Grant Shaffer since 2007. He's written two books, novel Tommy's Tale and his 2014 memoir, Not My Father's Son: A Memoir.
Most recently, Cumming has hosted The Traitors, which won Outstanding Reality Competition Program at the 2024 Emmy Awards.
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Shalhoub appeared in the first three Spy Kids films as reformed baddie Alexander Minion.
In 2002, Shalhoub began his critically acclaimed run on USA Network's Monk, earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for eight consecutive years and winning three times. Since 2017, the actor has starred on Amazon's Emmy-winning comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and reprised his role as Adrian Monk in Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie in 2023.
Shalhoub has been married to actress Brooke Adams since 1992 and the couple have two daughters.
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The Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman star played OSS traitor Ms. Gradenko in the first Spy Kids film, going on to front ABC's hit soap Desperate Housewives three years later. During her time on Wisteria Lane, the former Bond girl won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.
Since Desperate Housewives ended its run in 2012, she has appeared on The Odd Couple and Supergirl. The actress also has her own YouTube cooking channel, Hatching Change, and competed on Food Network's Chopped.
Hatcher has a 23-year-old daughter, Emerson, with ex-husband Jon Tenney.
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Yes, George Clooney really was in the OG Spy Kids movie, the Ocean's Eleven star making a small cameo as head of the OSS/future President of the United States Devlin. He reprised the role in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over.
Since then, he's been one of the most in-demand actors and directors in Hollywood, starring in flicks such as The Perfect Storm, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Gravity, The Monuments Men, Hail, Caesar! and many more. Clooney, 59, won two Oscars, one for Syriana and one as a producer for Argo, and the ER alum returned to TV in Hulu's Catch-22 in 2019.
The longtime bachelor married human rights attorney Amal Clooney in September 2014, going on to welcome their twins Alexander and Ella in 2017.
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