- It’s been 19 years since “Spy Kids” (2001) hit theaters.
- Alexa PenaVega (née Vega) is still an actress, and she’s currently working on TV movies for the Hallmark Channel.
- Daryl Sabara has found continued success as a voice actor, and Carla Gugino recently starred on “The Haunting of Hill House.”
- Antonio Banderas, Cheech Marin, and Danny Trejo continued to work alongside “Spy Kids” director Robert Rodriguez after the film.
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“Spy Kids” (2001) was a hit with many kids who grew up in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez, the movie follows Carmen (Alexa PenaVega) and Juni (Daryl Sabara) as they become spies and go on an adventure to save their parents and the world from an evil mastermind.
The film is full of thrills, gadgets, kid-friendly action, and a cast of actors who have found continued success in Hollywood.
Here’s what the cast of “Spy Kids” is up to 19 years after the movie debuted.
Alexa PenaVega played Carmen Cortez.
Alexa PenaVega (née Vega) started working as an actor in the early 1990s, but playing 12-year-old Carmen Cortez in "Spy Kids" brought her to mainstream fame.
PenaVega continued her acting career, and she now stars in a variety of TV movies.
Following the success of "Spy Kids," PenaVega joined most of the original cast for the three follow-up films: "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams" (2002), "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" (2003), and "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World" (2011).
After "Spy Kids," PenaVega starred in the teen comedy "Sleepover" (2004) as well as various made-for-TV films. She also appeared in "Repo! The Genetic Opera" (2008), a limited-release film that has since gained a cult following.
In 2009, she starred on the ABC Family series "Ruby and the Rockits," and in 2014 she began her recurring role on CMT's "Nashville."
PenaVega competed on "Dancing With the Stars" in 2015 against her husband, former Big Time Rush member Carlos PenaVega.
In recent years, the couple has starred in a variety of Hallmark Channel TV movies together.
Daryl Sabara played Carmen's brother, Juni Cortez.
Daryl Sabara appeared briefly on a handful of TV series before playing 9-year-old Juni Cortez in "Spy Kids."
Sabara has found success as a TV and voice actor.
Like PenaVega, Sabara continued to star in all the "Spy Kids" sequels, and he appeared in Robert Rodriguez's "Machete" (2010) alongside some of his "Spy Kids" costars.
Sabara also continued to guest star on various TV shows like the Disney Channel's "Wizards of Waverly Place," Showtime's "Weeds," Fox's "House," NBC's "Friends," and CBS' "Criminal Minds."
He appeared in films like "Keeping Up With the Steins" (2006), "Halloween" (2007), "World's Greatest Dad" (2009), and "John Carter" (2012).
Since "Spy Kids" Sabara has also made a name for himself as a voice actor.
He voiced leading characters in "The Polar Express" (2004) and "A Christmas Carol" (2009), as well as on Cartoon Network's "Generator Rex," Disney XD's "Ultimate Spider-Man," and Cartoon Network's "Ben 10."
In 2018, he married pop singer Meghan Trainor.
Antonio Banderas played Carmen and Juni's father, Gregorio Cortez.
Before "Spy Kids," Antonio Banderas had already established himself as a successful actor, best known for films like "Desperado" (1995), "Assassins" (1995), "Evita" (1996), and "The Mask of Zorro" (1998).
Today, Banderas has found continued success in film.
Banderas went on to star in the rest of the "Spy Kids" series and Rodriguez's "Machete Kills" (2013).
He also appeared in as well as a variety of films, including "Femme Fatale" (2002), "Frida" (2002), "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" (2003), "The Legend of Zorro" (2005), the "Shrek" franchise, and "Puss in Boots" (2011).
The actor spent time on Broadway and earned a 2003 Tony nomination for his role in the musical "Nine."
In 2018, Banderas portrayed Pablo Picasso on National Geographic's "Genius."
His latest projects include the Spanish film "Pain and Glory" (2019) with Penélope Cruz - which won him the Cannes Film Festival award for best actor - "The Laundromat" (2019) with Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman, and "Dolittle" (2020) with Rober Downey Jr.
He's currently working on "The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard" and the upcoming action film "Uncharted," starring Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland.
Carla Gugino played Gregorio's wife, Ingrid Cortez.
Prior to starring as Ingrid Cortez in "Spy Kids," Carla Gugino spent over 10 years in Hollywood working on a number of popular movies and TV series, including ABC's "Spin City" and CBS' "Chicago Hope."
Gugino continues to work as an actress on hit projects like Netflix's "The Haunting of Hill House."
Gugino reprised her role as Ingrid Cortez in "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams" and "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over."
The actress continued to work on a variety of TV series, including ABC's "Karen Sisco," CBS' "Threshold," and HBO's "Entourage."
She also appeared in numerous films, like "Sin City" (2005), "Night at the Museum" (2006), "Watchmen" (2009), "New Year's Eve" (2011), "San Andreas" (2015), and "Gerald's Game" (2017).
More recently, she was on the hit Netflix horror series "The Haunting of Hill House," Cinemax's "Jett," and ITV's "Manhunt."
Gugino is set to star in the upcoming films "Gunpowder Milkshake" and "San Andreas 2."
Alan Cumming played the film's antagonist, the evil Fegan Floop.
Prior to playing the evil mastermind Fegan Floop, Alan Cumming already established himself as a well-known actor in film, on television, and in the theater.
He'd already appeared in films like "Black Beauty" (1994), "GoldenEye" (1995), "Emma" (1996), "Spice World" (1997), and "Get Carter" (2000).
The actor also performed as the Emcee in West End and Broadway productions of "Cabaret" in the 1990s.
Cumming has continued to work in film, on television, and on the stage.
In the second and third "Spy Kids" movies, Cumming reprised his role as Fegan Floop.
He also went on to appear in films like "X2: X-Men United" (2003), "Son of the Mask" (2005), and "Burlesque" (2010) as well as television shows like CBS' "The Good Wife," Showtime's "The L Word," and Showtime's "Web Therapy."
Additionally, Cumming continued to perform in different Broadway and West End stage productions - most recently, he starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe in the West End play "Endgame."
Some of his latest projects in film and television include the CBS crime drama "Instinct" and USA's "Briarpatch" as well as the film "Battle of the Sexes" (2017).
Cumming is set to appear in a few upcoming films, including "Run."
Teri Hatcher played Ms. Gradenko.
Prior to appearing in "Spy Kids" as Ms. Gradenko, Teri Hatcher starred on ABC's "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" and in the James Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997).
Hatcher continues to work as an actress, mainly focusing on television.
After her role in "Spy Kids," Hatcher went on to star as Susan on one of the most successful TV dramas from the 2000s, "Desperate Housewives." The show ran for eight years on ABC and made Hatcher a household name.
In addition to "Desperate Housewives," Hatcher continued to work on a variety of other shows and movies, including appearing alongside Matthew Perry on ABC's "The Odd Couple" and in a recurring role on CBS/The CW's "Supergirl."
Hatcher has also done voice acting, most notably in the 2009 film "Coraline."
Her most recent credit was for the film "Madness in the Method" (2019).
Cheech Marin played "Uncle" Felix Gumm.
Actor, comedian, and writer Cheech Marin played Felix Gumm in "Spy Kids," a man who Carmen and Juni thought was their uncle but turns out to be an undercover spy sent to protect them.
Before appearing in the film, Marin was well-established as a successful stand-up comedian and actor thanks to his hit comedy act "Cheech and Chong" with Tommy Chong.
He had also worked on films like "Ghostbusters II" (1989), "The Lion King" (1994), and "Desperado" (1995).
Today, Marin is still a successful actor and comedian.
Marin reprised his role in the second and third "Spy Kids" films and appeared in Rodriguez's "Machete." He also appeared alongside Banderas in "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" (2003).
Marin went on to work on a variety of kid and family films, including "The Lion King" and "Cars" franchises, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" (2008), and "Coco" (2017).
Marin's most recent projects include Disney Junior's "Elena of Avalor" and AMC's "Lodge 49." He is set to appear in "The War With Grandpa," an upcoming film with Robert De Niro.
Danny Trejo played Isador "Machete" Cortez.
Before starring as Isador Cortez, better known as Machete, Danny Trejo had worked consistently in film since the late 1980s.
Some of his notable credits included "Femme Fatale" (1991), "Desperado" (1995), "Heat" (1995), "Con Air" (1997), and "Animal Factory" (2000).
Trejo's role on "Spy Kids" earned him his own spin-off series of "Machete" films.
Trejo is perhaps best-known for the "Machete" franchise, which was created by director Rodriguez as a spin-off of his "Spy Kids" character. The "Machete" films were aimed at an adult audience and helped establish Trejo as a household name.
He also appeared in the rest of the "Spy Kids" series.
The actor worked on many films throughout the 2000s including "Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" (2004), and "Grindhouse" (2007).
He also appeared on TV shows like AMC's "Breaking Bad," Fox/NBC's "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," Fox's "King of the Hill," FX's "Sons of Anarchy," and The CW's "The Flash."
More recently, Trejo voiced a character in "Dora and the Lost City of Gold" (2019), and he currently has a number of projects in the works, including "Machete Kills in Space," the third film in the franchise.
Robert Patrick played Mr. Lisp.
Prior to his work on "Spy Kids," actor Robert Patrick found success in action films like "Die Hard 2" (1990) and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991).
Mr. Lisp in "Spy Kids" was a much tamer version of the type of action roles Patrick was affiliated with.
Patrick is still successful in film and on television.
After "Spy Kids," Patrick appeared in hit movies like "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" (2003), "Ladder 49" (2004), "Walk the Line" (2005), "The Men Who Stare at Goats" (2009), and "Safe House" (2012).
He also made a name for himself on popular TV shows like Fox's "The X-Files," CBS' "The Unit," CBS' "Elvis," and FX's "Sons of Anarchy."
He has a number of films in the works, and he recently made an appearance in "The Laundromat" (2019).
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