You might not even believe us when we tell you Spy Kids premiered 16 years ago. That's the first time we came across Alexa PenaVega, who at 13 totally nailed the part of Carmen Cortez, the daughter of two retired spies who has to come to the rescue when her parents are in danger. Alexa — who is now 28, married to singer Carlos PenaVega [1], and a mom to Ocean King [2] — gave us serious superkid goals back then with her on-point one-liners (like "oh, shiitake mushrooms") and kickass fight moves. Keep scrolling to see all the reasons Alexa was the best character in Spy Kids.

She always played it cool.

Her insults were on point.

She was not afraid to defend herself.

She could be a powerful evil kid.

She made lunch like a boss.

She was honest.

She always chose the right words.

And didn't sweat the small things.

She was a total badass then and is still one now.