At the center of SPY KIDS is the Cortez family, a family hiding dangerous secrets from one another.
For years, Ingrid Cortez has told her children the bedtime story of "The Spies Who Fell in Love." According to the legend, each of the two spies had exactly the same mission: to destroy the other. Instead, when they came face to face, they fell in love. Soon, they were giving up one great adventure for a completely new one — the thrills and chills of trying to raise a family.
Little do Carmen and Juni Cortez know that the spies in the fairy tale are actually their parents. As Carmen says, disbelievingly "Our parents aren't cool enough to be spies!" But she couldn't be more wrong.. .as she soon discovers. In fact, Ingrid and Gregorio Cortez are the two most formidable agents the world has ever known, and now that the world is on the brink of crisis, they've been called back into service. Not only is it time for Gregorio and Ingrid to remember all the frenzied fun of their pasts — it's time for them to come clean and give their children something very powerful: the truth.
Antonio Banderas stars as Gregorio Cortez, a man of action who misses the days of chasing villains, wearing fake mustaches and stopping wars before they even begin. Banderas previously worked with Robert Rodriguez on the features "Desperado" and "Four Rooms." But this time around he shows a side of himself never really seen before — a light-hearted suaveness mixed with something new: parental concern.
Rodriguez had Antonio Banderas in mind for the role from the beginning. "I knew he would have a real blast playing a suave secret agent," says the director. "He really is a wonderful comedic actor who is very free in his decisions and will try anything. I wanted him to bring his usual sexiness but I also wanted that sense of fun that he can bring to the table."
"I was very excited that Robert Rodriguez was doing a family action movie," comments Banderas. "And for me, it was a real chance to take a type of character I've played before in a completely new direction. Gregorio was once a spy, a real action hero, but now he's a family man, he's a daddy and I had to think from that perspective. What I love most about the movie is that the kids are the real heroes and, as the adults, we really follow their lead. And I'm sure that when other kids see Carmen and Juni, they'll want to be part of their adventures — and I think that's the secret of making movies for kids, getting their imaginations going like that."
Banderas was impressed not only by the comedy and mystery of the story-line, but by its underlying theme. "To me, this film is an adventure but at the same time it's telling you about the values of life, of family, of relationships," he says. "It's really about how families don't need to keep secrets. Because the minute the secrets disappear, the Cortezes really come together and can accomplish anything."
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