Spy Kids fans shocked to learn the REAL age of iconic actress from film

Daily Mail​

03-07-2025

It's been 24 years since Spy Kids was released but it's still surprising fans - with some just now realizing that one actress was only in her 20s when she was playing a mom to pre-teens.
Carla Gugino, now 53, played Ingrid Cortez, a retired Office of Strategic Services agent turned consultant worker, and mother to kids Juni and Carmen (played Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega) in the film.
While Ingrid's age isn't revealed in the movie, her children are aged nine and 11, and Antonio Banderas, who played her husband, was 38.
However, Carla herself was only 27 when she was cast in the film.
'So what's crazy is that when I played Ingrid Cortez in Spy Kids, I was 27 years old, isn't that bananas,' the Sin City star said in amazement in a recent interview with B&C.
'I should have been 10 years older for that part, we've made everybody believe it,' she quipped.
Carla added it's been 'incredible' to see longevity of the film, which expanded into a multi-film franchise.
'But it's been incredible to see generation after generation just love that movie - there's something timeless about it, and I love it cause the kids get to be the heroes,' she said passionately.
The actress added: 'The parents are cool, they're not like the sort of fuddy-duddy [old school] - there's something very innovative about it and I think here's something very timeless about it which is super cool.'
But Carla may have been a bit too 'cool,' with shocked fans of the movie in disbelief that she was so young in the role.
'27???? I'm older than Ingrid Cortez???' a surprised user wrote.
'Wait I'm now older than she was when she filmed it?' another incredulous fan chimed in.
'She looked older than 27 tho lol, worked well,' observed someone else.
'Damn I thought she was 35 in Spy Kids, I think it was just the hair that made her look older,' commented
The original three Spy Kids films that also included the sequels Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams (2002) and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003).
Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez, the first of the spy action comedy films became a big hit with both critics and fans, grossing $147.9 million surpassing their budget of $35 million.
While Ingrid's age isn't revealed in the movie, her children (played by Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega) are aged nine and 11, and Antonio Banderas, who played her husband, was 38
The success helped it earn the distinction of being among the top 20 highest-grossing films of 2001.
The cast also featured the likes of Danny Trejo, Alan Cumming, George Clooney, Teri Hatcher, Cheech Marin, Robert Patrick and Tony Shalhoub.
The core cast also starred together in Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams (2002), which was another box office hit raking in $119.7 million while working from a $38 million budget.
The last of the trilogy, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003), earned even more than the first two, grossing $197 million while spending $38 million on the production.
Spy Kids also saw some Hollywood stars make appearances in All the Time in the World (2011) with Jessica Alba, Joel McHale, Rowan Blanchard, Mason Cook, Ricky Gervais and Jeremy Piven joining.
Ultimately, the filmmaker rebooted the family-friendly action series entirely with last year's Netflix movie Spy Kids: Armageddon, this time co-starring Gina Rodriguez and Zachary Levi as super spy parents.