Former Spy Kids star Alexa PenaVega has revealed that her decision to quit Hollywood and relocate to rural Hawaii with her family was partly to devote her ‘life to Jesus’.
The 33-year-old turned her back on the spotlight in 2017 to focus on a quieter life in Maui, Hawaii, alongside her husband, Carlos PenaVega, after welcoming their first child, Ocean, together.
Alexa explained that she had begun to feel 'trapped in the entertainment world' at the time while Carlos - who is best known for his role in Big Time Rush - was 'really struggling with rejection' after doing numerous auditions and failing to land any roles.
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Knowing that they didn’t want to raise their children in Los Angeles, the Christian couple decided to relocate to Hawaii 'to be part of a community that shared their faith'.
Initially, the former child star said she 'wasn't excited' about making the move since she 'loved her career and LA', but soon came to the realisation while 'praying' in her car that she needed a fresh start just as much as Carlos.
Speaking to Fox News, she said: "It stopped me in my tracks because all that time, I thought we were just moving for Carlos. But I needed a heart reset.
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"I was the one trapped in the entertainment world and needed to take a step back. My job became my identity. God pulled me out of that so I could learn how to be an awesome mom and an awesome wife.
"God helped us build that foundation in our family. And once I had that revelation, I felt at peace."
The happy couple, who met at a bible study group in California, now have three children together and have recently written a joint memoir, What if Love is the Point? Living for Jesus in a Self-Consumed World.
PenaVega played Carmen Cortez opposite her on-screen brother Daryl Sabara in all four Spy Kids films.
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However, she’s only appeared in a small number of films in recent years, including Ms. Matched, Sleep Away and Mighty Oak. She last worked with Rodriguez on Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.
In an earlier interview with Insider, she recalled the reaction to Spy Kids.
"When it came out, we were just excited to see the final outcome. When it was a hit, I think we knew that that was cool but there weren’t social media back then right?" she said.
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"So we were still super protected as kids in the industry. If that movie were made nowadays with younger kids, I feel like social media changes a lot of that. I just feel like there was still such an innocence about making that movie."
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Topics: Celebrity
Lisa McLoughlin