Where Are They Now? Alexa PenaVega and More

Director Robert Rodriguez smashed box-office expectations with his family film Spy Kids.

Featuring Rodriguez’s frequent collaborators Antonio Banderas, Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin, the 2001 action comedy is also known as the project that launched the careers of titular kids Alexa PenaVega and Daryl Sabara.

The movie follows Carmen Cortez (PenaVega) and her brother, Juni (Sabara), as they try to rescue their superstar parents (Banderas and Carla Gugino) from a dastardly plot enacted by Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming), the host of a children’s TV show.

After raking in nearly $150 million at the box office, Spy Kids spawned three sequels — Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and Spy Kids: All the Time in the World — as well as a 2018 animated TV show called Spy Kids: Mission Critical.

A rebooted version of the film franchise debuted on Netflix in September 2023,  starring Gina Rodriguez and Zachary Levi as the spy parents. Connor Esterson and Everly Carganilla, for their part, took on the roles of the young adventurers. 

Keep scrolling to see what the cast of the original Spy Kids has been up to since the film’s 2001 premiere.