Carla Gugino reflects on being cast as a mother in 'Spy Kids' in her 20s: 'Totally impossible'

Some say, "Age is a state of mind," and that attitude came in handy for “Spy Kids” star Carla Gugino.

Gugino, who played secret spy mother Ingrid Cortez in Robert Rodriguez’s action-comedy franchise “Spy Kids,” reflected on being cast in the maternal role in her late 20s in an interview with Buzzfeed News published Tuesday.

In the franchise’s first film, Gugino’s character was mother to tweens Carmen and Juni Cortez, played by Alexa PenaVega and Daryl Sabara, respectively. Gugino herself was 27 at the time of the film’s production.

“I love Ingrid Cortez. But it was funny because I was 10 years, at least, too young for the role,” Gugino told the outlet. “Because I was, like, a spy for 10 years and then somehow had children who were like 9 and 11. So, it was physically totally impossible.”

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Gugino, who revealed she “wasn't even on the initial casting lists” for the film, said she was reassured by director Rodriguez that they could work around the age gap with her character.

“They'd already been shooting for two weeks. He was like, ‘I feel like I'm looking for a mother for my kids,’” Gugino recalled. “We were talking about it, and I had auditioned for him and he said, 'I think if we do our job right, no one will ever question it.'"

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“Spy Kids” was released in March 2001 and went on to gross $147.9 million at the global box office. The film spawned a trio of sequels: 2002’s “Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams,” 2003’s “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” and 2011’s “Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World.” Rodriguez has since rebooted the franchise with the 2018 animated Netflix series “Spy Kids: Mission Critical” and the 2023 film “Spy Kids: Armageddon.”

“It was a really beautiful kind of double-edged sword because I love that movie so much,” Gugino said. “And the whole experience was incredible, and the movies continue. Like, every generation gets to watch it and love it so much.”

The other edge of the sword, Gugino said, was being stereotyped as an older actor because she had played a mother in “Spy Kids.” But she said the experience helped her overcome the professional anxiety of being typecasted as she got older.

“What was so wild is that for many years after that, there were certain roles with men that were equal, or maybe a few years older than me at the time, like Brad Pitt or George Clooney or certain people who were in that age range, people would say, ‘Oh, but she's too old to play opposite them,’” Gugino said. “And I was like, ‘No, no. I'm only 27!’ So, the good news for me is, you know, women sometimes are afraid, understandably so, to play mothers, and I think because I just did it so young, I got it out of the way.”