Carla Gugino biography

   Carla Gugino (born August 29, 1971) is an actress known for her role as Ingrid Cortez in the Spy Kids movies and the title role in the TV series Karen Sisco.

   She was born in Sarasota, Florida to an Italian-Irish father and a mother of English descent. Her mother moved the family to Paradise, California, when she was four years old. Despite moving around California a great deal as a child, Carla Gugino remained a straight-A student and graduated valedictorian. At the age of 15 she was spotted by a modeling agency in San Diego and moved to New York. This was unusual as at only 5 feet 4 inches (1.65 meters) tall, she was considered too short for catwalk work. Finding the experience too much, Gugino moved back to California that summer. Partly at the suggestion of her aunt Carol Merrill, she subsequently studied acting.

   Carla Gugino has starred in many films including Snake Eyes (1998), Judas Kiss (which she also co-produced, 1998), the three Spy Kids films, Son in Law, The One with Jet Li, and Sin City. Her most recent role is in Night at the Museum.

   She also played Ashley Schaeffer in the television series Spin City. Gossip suggested Gugino was removed after twelve episodes because Tracy Pollan—wife of star Michael J. Fox—felt her chemistry with Fox was too good. She recently starred in the short lived CBS science fiction series, Threshold. In 2004, she starred in Roundabout Theatre Company's After the Fall opposite Six Feet Under's Peter Krause. In late 2006, she will begin the Off-Broadway play by Tennessee Williams, Suddenly Last Summer opposite actress Blythe Danner.

   Carla Gugino has also appeared in a wide range of TV programs including ALF, Doogie Howser, M.D., Saved by the Bell, Who's the Boss? and The Wonder Years, and is featured in the video to Bon Jovi's 1994 song 'Always'.

   Doug Ellin, producer of the television series, Entourage, stated that Carla Gugino was slated to be the new agent of Vincent Chase.

· Modeled for the prestigious Elite agency as a teenager but was considered too short for fashion runway work.

· Has a butterfly tattoo on the inside of her left ankle.

· Was her high school's valedictorian.

· Boyfriend is writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez, with whom she has worked on several productions.

· She turned down the role of Vin Diesel's love interest in the box-office hit The Pacifier (2005) to take a small but unforgettably sexy role in Sin City (2005) because she had enjoyed working with director Robert Rodriguez in the three "Spy Kids" films.

· Her small size, which had worked against her when she was trying to be a model, later worked for her, as she was cast with diminutive actors like Michael J. Fox in "Spin City" (1996) and Antonio Banderas in the "Spy Kids" films.