Alexa PenaVega (née Vega; born August 27, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Carmen Cortez in the Spy Kids film series and Shilo Wallace in the film Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008). In 2009, she starred as the title character Ruby Gallagher in the ABC Family series Ruby & the Rockits.
Vega was born in Miami, Florida. She spent the first four years of her life on a ranch in Ocala, Florida. Her father, Baruch Vega, is a Colombian fashion photographer who was an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and her mother, Gina Rue, is an American former model. Vega has six siblings, including actress Makenzie Vega. She moved with her family to California when she was four years old. As a teenager, she was homeschooled.
In 1996, Vega starred as young Jo Harding in Twister. She guest-starred in numerous television shows and films, including ER, Follow the Stars Home, Ghost Whisperer, and The Bernie Mac Show. She became known worldwide in 2001 for her role as "Carmen Cortez" in Spy Kids. The first Spy Kids film was a huge success, and subsequently two sequels, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over were filmed. During the shooting of the three films, she performed most of her own stunts. In 2011, Vega appeared in the sequel, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World as a grown Carmen Cortez.