Biography
Spunky child star Alexa Vega shot to fame in 2001 as one of the young secret agents in the 007 spoof
Spy Kids. Born on August 27, 1988 in Miami, Vega spent her early years living on a nearby Florida farm. When she was four, her family relocated to California, where her mother got a job with a talent agency. Inspired by Vega's precocity, her mother brought her to an audition for
Burt Reynolds' TV series
Evening Shade -- she landed the two-year gig on her first try.
Vega worked continuously ever since, landing guest-starring roles on E.R. and
Chicago Hope, and appearing in
Little Giants (1994) and
Nine Months (1995). After portraying a young
Helen Hunt in
Jan de Bont's
Twister (1996), she played
Steven Seagal's daughter in
The Glimmer Man (1996),
Alec Baldwin's daughter in
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), and
Michelle Pfeiffer's daughter in
The Deep End of the Ocean (1999).
Vega returned to series television as
Alfred Molina's daughter in CBS' short-lived sitcom
Ladies Man, before taking center stage in
Spy Kids. Written and directed by
Robert Rodriguez, the film followed two preadolescents who must save their secret-agent parents from the grips of a madman bent on destroying the world. Along with co-star
Daryl Sabara, Vega insisted on doing the majority of her own stunts, instantly becoming a hero to kids everywhere. The movie, which also featured
Antonio Banderas,
Carla Gugino,
Alan Cumming, and
Tony Shalhoub, was a box-office smash. Vega returned a year later for its highly anticipated sequel, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002), which featured the kids traveling to a lost island in an effort to thwart the evil plans of a mad scientist played by
Steve Buscemi.
After the
Spy Kids series wrapped with 2003's
Spy Kids 3-D, Vega focused her efforts on parlaying her newfound stardom into other high-prolife projects. In the Summer of 2004, Vega's first post-
Spy Kids film,
Sleepover, debuted in theaters. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide