Photo: Rico Torres/Dimension/Kobal/Shutterstock

Alexa PenaVega’s kids aren’t as big a fan of her earlier work as others, it seems.
The former child star, 34, admitted that her three children don’t love her 2001 breakout filmSpy Kidsduring an interview with E! News, explaining that they prefer anotherRobert Rodriguez-helmed family adventure movie.
“Everybody thinks I was Lavagirl. I was not Lavagirl, but my kids only watchSharkboy and Lavagirl,” PenaVega said. “They don’t likeSpy Kids.”
She played Carmen Cortez, who goes on an adventure with her brother Juni (Daryl Sabara) to save their parents (Antonio BanderasandCarla Gugino), after finding out mom and dad are secretly spies. PenaVega returned to the role forSpy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams(2002) andSpy Kids 3-D: Game Over(2003).
Rodriguez followed up the franchise’s success with the 2005 movieThe Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, starringTaylor LautnerandTaylor Dooleyas the titular superheroes. Dooleyreprised the rolein Rodriguez’s 2020 Netflix filmWe Can Be Heroes, although Lautner was unavailable to play Sharkboy again.
Alexa and Carlos PenaVega with sons Kingston (left) and Ocean.

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Alexa’s husbandCarlos PenaVega, with whom she shares sonsOcean King, 5,Kingston James, 3, and 17-month-old daughterRio Rey, said they have to tell the kids, “But that’s not Mommy.”
“Kingston keeps telling me that I should have been Lavagirl. I love Taylor, so I literally text her that all the time. I’m like, ‘Girl, my kids like you better than they like me, and I don’t know what to do about it!'” Alexa added.
TheMachete Killsactress also revealed that she recently caught up with Sabara, 30, whowelcomed his first child, sonRiley Trainor, 20 months, with wifeMeghan Trainorlast February.
Taylor Dooley, Taylor Lautner.Columbia/Sony/Kobal/Shutterstock

Alexa previously told PEOPLE that she and theSpy Kidscast and crew remain “a small little family,” Alexa says, adding that Sabara “is my lifelong brother” in the 2020 interview.
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“When we were filming those movies, we really were like brother and sister,” Alexa added. “And we would fight so much, just like brother and sister. And now that we’re older, we get along super well. There’s so much love. He’ll be my bro-bro forever.”
After releasing the fourth installmentSpy Kids: All the Time in the World(starringJessica Alba,Joel McHaleandRowan Blanchard) in 2011, Rodriguez, 54,is rebooting the franchisewith an upcoming film starringGina RodriguezandZachary Levi.
Alexa PenaVega’s children’s bookOcean’s World: An Island of Discovery and Adventureis now available for pre-order, hitting shelves October 25.
source: people.com