Spy Kids at 25: Where Is The Cast Now?

Twenty-five years ago this week, Robert Rodriguez took an unexpected career turn and released the first in what would eventually become a beloved tetralogy of Spy Kids movies. 

After announcing himself at the Sundance Film Festival a decade earlier with his micro-budgeted El Mariachi, the filmmaker had quickly cemented his place as a master of genre with movies about hot guitar players (Desperado), hot vampires (From Dusk till Dawn) and — also kinda hot? — parasitic aliens (The Faculty). All of which is to say: in 2001, nobody saw Spy Kids coming. 

By that time, however, the director’s children were approaching movie-watching age, and so Rodriguez harnessed his gifts behind the camera to make one of the best family franchises of the era. The first movie in the series, simply titled Spy Kids, saw the filmmaker round up a group of his favourite collaborators (as well as a few newbies) for an adventure about two children who must use their spy parents’ tech (as well as their inherited know-how) to save their elders from the evil Alex Minion and his robot army. 

It was a wild move from Rodriguez — who was one of the coolest and most sought-after filmmakers in the business at the time — but 25 years later, we can probably agree that it paid off. In the list below, we’ll look back over the various glittering names that appeared in the original Spy Kids and see what they’ve been up to in the intervening years. Read on to learn a bit more and use the guide below to find their best work on services like Apple TV, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere. 

Alexa Vega (Carmen Cortez)

There are plenty of more celebrated actors in Spy Kids, but it just feels right to start with the kids themselves. Alexa Vega was 12-years-old when she played Carmen Cortez for the first time, but the actress had already been working for several years by then, notably playing the young Jo Harding (Holly Hunter) in the opening sequence of Twister.

In the years that followed, along with reprising her role as Carmen in a further three Spy Kids movies, Rodriguez would also cast her in small parts in Machete Kills and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. Outside of those collaborations and a recent run of Hallmark movies, Vega’s most prominent role was a recurring part as Kiley Brenner in the Nashville TV series.

One to watch: If you like her in Spy Kids, see if you can spot her as Killjoy in Machete Kills.

Daryl Sabara (Juni Cortez)

Unlike Vega, playing Juni Cortez in Spy Kids really was Daryl Sabara’s debut role. After the original movie, the young actor started popping up in everything from Friends to House and went on to pick up roles with some of Rodriguez’s genre buddies — like Eli Roth (The Green Inferno) and Rob Zombie (Halloween).

Outside of those parts, Sabara has enjoyed a steady career as a voice actor, aurally appearing in classics like The Polar Express and My Neighbours the Yamadas and more recently in animated TV shows like Ben 10.

One to watch: If you like the idea of seeing Juni in a gross-out horror, try The Green Inferno.

Antonio Banderas (Gregorio Cortez)

Rodriguez and Banderas may have done various other things in their careers, but the movies they made together have always had the feel of one of those great director-actor relationships. Indeed, Banderas helped bring Rodriguez into the mainstream with Desperado in 1995 — a time when he was fast becoming one of the era’s great Hollywood heartthrobs— and has continued to work with him across various projects.

Banderas’ most significant movies outside of that partnership come either from his other great collaboration (with the Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar — with whom he has now made eight incredible films, including The Skin I Live In and Pain and Glory) or his six vocal performances as Puss in Boots in the Shrek universe, including a trilogy of spin-offs. Keep an eye out for him in Matt Johnson’s upcoming Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony. 

One to watch: If you want top-tier classy, go Pain and Glory. If you want top-tier fun, try Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. 

Carla Gugino (Ingrid Cortez)

Before landing the role as Ingrid Cortez in Spy Kids, Carla Gugino had been working steadily in Hollywood for most of the ‘90s, but Rodriguez’s movie bumped her up to another level of stardom.

In the decade that followed, she played the love interests in Night at the Museum and American Gangster, had a recurring role in Entourage, and appeared as Silk Spectre in Zack Snyder’s Watchmen. Look out for her this year in David Fincher’s The Adventures of Cliff Booth and Mike Flanagan’s upcoming remake of The Exorcist. 

One to watch: For her cosiest Ingrid vibes, her performance in Night at the Museum is delightful. 

Alan Cumming (Fegan Floop)

On top of his great turns as Fegan Floop in the first three Spy Kids movies, Alan Cumming has had one of those careers that I think a lot of actors are probably quietly envious of. The Scot's body of work boasts that rare combination of widely adored entertainments (like Spice World, X2, and GoldenEye) and a genuine modern classic in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut.

All of which is to say, Cumming is kind of an actor who still seems cool no matter what kind of movie or show he’s a part of. You catch him these days presenting shows like the BAFTAs and The US Traitors — or, later this year, when he reprises his role as Nightcrawler in Avengers: Doomsday. 

One to watch: Take your pick, but his Russian accent in GoldenEye is a real hoot.

Danny Trejo (Machete)

With 464 credits and counting on IMDb, a better question for Danny Trejo might be: What hasn’t he been in since Spy Kids? 

I jest — outside of reprising his role as Machete across various Spy Kids movies, a fake trailer, and two relatively mature spinoffs, the ever-popular and ever-prolific acting credits have mostly come on straight-to-VOD releases — the kind of movies that have titles like Vampfather and Pistolera. 

In recent years, you will probably have heard his voice in movies like Minions: The Rise of Gru and Zootopia 2 — in which he played a basilisk named Jesús.

One to watch: It’s gotta be Machete. 

Teri Hatcher (Ms Gradenko)

If you grew up in the ‘90s, Teri Hatcher probably either came into your life thanks to her many performances as Lois Lane in The New Adventures of Superman or as the Bond girl Paris Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies. If neither of those rings a bell, however, you’ll probably know her for the show that began just one year after she played Ms Gradenko in Spy Kids.

It’s true, Rodriguez’s film was released just a few months before Hatcher began her 180-episode run as Susan Mayer on Desperate Housewives, which is now undoubtedly the defining role of her career. 

One to watch: If you’re in the mood for Bond, Tomorrow Never Dies is, I think, a little underrated. 

Cheech Marin (Felix Gumm)

As one half of Cheech and Chong, Cheech Marin will always be most associated with those great stoner comedies, but the 79-year-old actor and cultural personality has actually had an interesting career outside of all that. 

In the Spy Kids franchise, he plays Juni and Carmen’s uncle Felix, but you can also spot him in Rodriguez’s Dusk till Dawn as well as movies like Ghostbusters II and Martin Scorsese’s After Hours. Alongside that, he’s lent his iconic voice to everything from Pixar’s Cars franchise to Disney’s The Lion King. 

One to watch: Marin may only have a small part in After Hours — but hey, it’s Marty!

Robert Patrick (Mr Lisp)

After scaring the life out of cinemagoers with his dead-eyed portrayal of the T1000 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Robert Patrick understandably decided to lean into villainous roles for pretty much the rest of his career.

He first collaborated with Robert Rodriguez on The Faculty before landing the role of Mr Lisp in the first Spy Kids movie. Since then, Patrick continued to play scary or no-nonsense authority figures in everything from Balls of Fury to Gangster Squad to Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat, with plenty of movies I’ve never heard of in between. 

One to watch: It has to be T2. 

Tony Shalhoub (Alexander Minion)

Since donning that incredible headgear to play Alex Minion in Spy Kids, Tony Shalhoub has gone on to have one of the most impressive careers of anyone in the movie industry in the years that have followed. 

Movie-wise, Shalhoub has popped up in stuff like the Men in Black franchise (as the many-headed weapons dealer Jack Jeebs) and in Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain, but it’s on the small screen where his career has really flourished. He actually made his name playing Antonio Scarpacci on Wings in the ‘90s, but his seven years as the title character in Monk and (more recently) his six-year run on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel have collectively seen the actor earn four Emmys and a Golden Globe. 

One to watch: Definitely The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Mike Judge, George Clooney and Richard Linklater (Cameos)

We’ll round out our list with a few of the frankly awesome Spy Kids cameos. Mike Judge, who plays Donnagon Giggles, is better known as the genius Gen-X writer behind shows like Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill, Silicon Valley and the movie Idiocracy. 

Richard Linklater, who appears as Cool Spy, is the Texan filmmaker responsible for such indie classics as the Before trilogy and Boyhood. 

And last but not least, there’s George Clooney, who plays Devlin in Spy Kids, but who you might also recognise from movies like Ocean’s Eleven, Out of Sight, or the more recent Jay Kelly — you know, that guy.