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Alexa PenaVega

Alexa PenaVega has worked across film, television, voice acting and the stage, building a career that began well before she became widely known as Carmen Cortez in Spy Kids. Born in Miami on August 27, 1988, she moved with her family to California at four and was homeschooled as a teenager. PenaVega was eight when she appeared as young Jo Harding in Twister. Her defining early role arrived in 2001 with Spy Kids, where Carmen was capable, quick-thinking and fully involved in the action rather than standing at its edges. PenaVega performed most of her own stunts during the original three-film run, returning to the character as an adult in Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 2011. That success became a starting point rather than the limit of her screen work. She moved through teen comedy with Sleepover, tackled cyberbullying in the television film Odd Girl Out and appeared in Walkout. Her credits also show a willingness to move between very different tones, from Machete Kills, Bounty Killer and Wicked Blood to The Remaining, 23 Blast and Do You Believe? In The Devil's Carnival, she played Wick and contributed two songs to the soundtrack, reflecting the musical side of a career that also included playing Penny in the Broadway production of Hairspray. Television has remained a consistent part of PenaVega's work. She played Ruby Gallagher in Ruby & the Rockits, voiced Christina in the animated series Unsupervised and guest-starred in shows including ER, Ghost Whisperer, The Bernie Mac Show and Royal Pains. In 2015, she competed on the 21st season of Dancing with the Stars, finishing in sixth place with Mark Ballas. Beginning in 2016, PenaVega also became a regular presence in Hallmark television films, including Ms. Matched, Destination Wedding and Christmas Made to Order. She later starred with Carlos PenaVega in the Picture Perfect Mysteries films Newlywed and Dead and Dead over Diamonds. It is a varied body of work, tied together by her ease with family adventure, drama, comedy, music and mystery.