Former child stars Daryl Sabara and Alexa PenaVega, best known for their leading roles in the original Spy Kids franchise, have reflected on making the beloved action films years later.
Sabara, now 34, and PenaVega, now 37, starred in the first three films: Spy Kids (2001), Spy Kids: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) as siblings Juni and Carmen Cortiz, who become spies in order to save their ex-spy parents (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) from an evil mastermind.
The first film, released 25 years ago, introduced Alan Cumming as Fegan Floop, the host of a children’s TV show who is forced to mutate captured spies into an army at the behest of wealthy businessmen.
Despite Cumming’s antagonistic character, Sabara found the Scottish star, 61, to be the exact opposite in real life.
“Alan Cumming was like a superhero for me,” the Polar Bear Express actor told US Weekly in a new interview for the first film’s 25th anniversary. “Alan, Carla, Antonio … they didn’t treat us like kids, like they treated us like peers.” All three reprised their roles in the second and third films, alongside Sabara and PenaVega.
“They were so amazing,” PenaVega agreed.
Sabara remembered: “Antonio was coming off Zorro, so he was a superhero. I have a signed VHS somewhere, yeah, of The Mask of Zorro, but yeah, they were basically like pretend mom and dad … and just everyone took such great care of us.”
“We [feel] beyond blessed to have had just so many great movies back to back with that group,” PenaVega added, “because it was very special.”
The pair were just nine and 12 when Spy Kids premiered in 2001.
Sabara and PenaVega later returned to play adult versions of their characters in the 2011 Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, which starred Jessica Alba as a retired spy who must keep her identity hidden from her clueless husband (Joel McHale) and step-children, twins Rebecca and Cecil (played by Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook).
A fifth movie, Spy Kids: Armageddon, featuring Gina Rodriguez and Zachary Levi, was released as a standalone reboot in 2023. The two original child actors, however, did not return for the film.
In recent years, Sabara — who is married to and shares three children with pop star Meghan Trainor — has largely moved away from on-screen acting, focusing instead on voice acting and producing.
Meanwhile, PenaVega shares three children with her husband, actor Carlos PenaVega. In 2024, the couple announced that their fourth child was stillborn. PenaVega continues to act, primarily in faith-based projects, most recently appearing in an episode of the American Christian musical television series A Week Away in 2025.
