Before The Avengers assembled, before the Justice League entered the silver screen, and before superheroes took over the media today, there was a team that fought evil. Born to be heroes, the brother and sister duo fought multiple attacks on Earth, and defended the world against unknown villains. That team was the Spy Kids. Every Millennial and cusp Gen Z-er either loved them, or would have loved to be them. Most of the time, it was both. With the franchise consisting of a trilogy, and a reboot eight years after the first, the world that filmmaker Robert Rodriguez created is big.
But from fighting Thumbs-Thumbs to Three Dimensional heads of George Lopez, what is there left to do? Rodriguez gathered a star-studded cast that had a lot of experience under their belts to create the fun staple of the early-2000s. So, what has the cast been up to today? From kid stars to seasoned pros, here is where the Spy Kids cast is today.
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Alexa PenaVega
Dimension Films
Playing Carmen Cortez, the eldest sister, the martial artist with sarcasm as her biggest weapon, Alexa PenaVega has done a lot since her Spy Kids days. She has played Penny in Hairspray on Broadway, and stared in some Hallmark classics. She is also a musician, and has released several singles over the years. Another talent she possesses is dancing, and PenaVega competed in 2015 on a season of Dancing With The Stars, partnered with professional dancer Mark Ballas. She is currently married to former Big Time Rush actor, Carlos Pena Jr. and they have three children.
Daryl Sabara
After starring as Juni Cortez in Spy Kids, the little brother with all the brains, Daryl Sabara continued to act. He played the Hero Boy in the Christmas classic, The Polar Express, and keeping with the holiday theme, Sabara was in the Rob Zombie installment of Halloween. Sabara used his previous knowledge and experience of motion capture, and starred in the 2009 version of A Christmas Carol. He has been in countless television series and video games as a voice actor, and in 2018, married his long time girlfriend, Meghan Trainor, the pop icon. They have one baby together (via PEOPLE).
Antonio Banderas
After playing the father and head spy, Antonio Banderas returned to the musical scene. He was in the musical Nine on Broadway, and won a Tony for his performance. He also went on to voice the iconic character of Puss in Boots in the Shrek series. In 2006, Banderas reprised his roll as the gunslinger, Zorro, in The Legend of Zorro. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of Picasso in Genius: Picasso. He also went on to star in Pain and Glory, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Banderas is an activist, and has even taken a fashion course at Central Saint Martins.
Carla Gugino
After kicking butt in Spy Kids, Carla Gugino continued acting. She played Rebecca in the Night at the Museum franchise, and went onto star in Watchmen, the dark superhero movie. She’s acted alongside Dwayne Johnson twice, in Race to Witch Mountain and San Andreas. One of her biggest projects of recent years is the Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House. She has over 103 acting credits, and is not stopping any time soon.
Cheech Marin
Alongside his extensive acting career and iconic character, Cheech Marin is also a renowned voice actor. He has lent his voice to the Cars franchise, Hoodwinked, The Book of Life, and even Cheech and Chong’s Animated Movie. In 2019, a documentary was made on Marin’s life and his lifelong advocacy for Chicano art. He has created an entire organization called the The Cheech Marin Centre for Chicano Art, Culture, and Industry.
Danny Trejo
Danny Trejo played Machete, working under his second cousin, director Robert Rodriguez in Spy Kids. From that series, Trejo’s character of Machete was born, resulting in a franchise centered around this character later on in his life. Rodriguez also directed that franchise, which had a ton of callbacks to the Spy Kids movies. Trejo has also been in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Grindhouse.
Steve Buscemi
Though Steve Buscemi was only in the second Spy Kids movie, with a cameo in the third, he is one of the A-Listers that just had fun in the film. He has over 168 acting credits on IMDb, and has done everything from television to voice acting, directing to producing, and even working on video games. He voices Wayne in the family classic Hotel Transylvania series, has worked with Quentin Tarantino, starred in The Sopranos, and is an overall comedic genius. He was a firefighter before his acting career, and continuously reminisces on his time as one, as well as honoring the victims of the September 11 attacks, producing projects in their memory (via Independent).
