Alexa Vega: 'Spy Kids 4' Interview -- JJJ Exclusive!

If you were a kid growing up in the late nineties, the Spy Kids films were THE films to see…and to be in too.

JJJ sat down with one of the original Spy Kids, Alexa Vega and chatted about coming back to the franchise, her own Latino heritage and the roles she really wants to take on. Check it:

On returning to Spy Kids: “Walking onto this set for the first time was the most surreal moment I’ve had in a while. First off, I was walking onto a set that I grew up on, with all the same gadgets, and then Nina Prockter our costume designer walks over to me with the pair of pants that I wore on Spy Kids 1 and I was only about 4’4 at the time, so these pants were so little and she joked by saying ‘try and cram your butt into these’ (laughs). Making this film was the best experience ever and I loved it.”

On the Spy Kids fan encounters: “It’s been a really wonderful experience, something that I feel we were super blessed with. After Spy Kids I was so worried about being able to move on and do other things, but my character Carmen was so cool and the fact that she is such a super hero, I really stayed separate from my character. It’s hard not to think of Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana for example, and it took a little while for her to break out of that.

You don’t want to get stuck in that kind of role as an actor. I was very fortunate to have my character to be the cool one, so when little kids see me they ask where Juni is (Daryl Sabara) and they say ‘Why would you go anywhere without your brother’ (laughs). I think it’s the cutest thing because they genuinely think he’s my brother. All of these films have just been fun experiences and the fan encounters are the best, because a lot of these fans I grew up with, or they are the new generation of fans with the new movies.”

On Spy Kids‘ Latino culture and cast: “[Director] Robert Rodriguez really loves his culture and so proud of it and he wants to promote that in all of his films. You get that, but you also get both sides, the American side and the Hispanic side, but more importantly it’s about unity and everyone coming together.”

On her own heritage: “I am Colombian, I love being Colombian. My dad is from Bogota. My favorite thing about it is the food, I love to eat and I love to cook. I think we have some of the best food, we put cilantro in everything. It is a culture very centered around family, I remember growing up my grandma and our aunts lived with us, we had so many people in one house, and it was fun! We were very family oriented, and I loved that, that is just a part of me and I hope that I can have a big family when I decide to have kids.”

On the roles she really wants to go after: “The stuff that I really want to do is stuff like Colombiana starring Zoe Saldana, I’ve always loved the idea of playing the bad ass chick. I would love to do something with drama and action.”

Spy Kids: All The Time In The World opens TOMORROW, August 19th!