Whatever Happened To Juni Cortez's Actor From Spy Kids?
Since birth, "Spy Kids" actor Daryl Sabara was on a collision course with fame. He was born on June 14, 1992, and grew up in Torrance, California, where he was raised with his fraternal twin brother, Evan, by their mother, Sandy. He began acting when he was just a baby, gracing television screens in "Murphy Brown" as the intrepid journalist's infant. He also did a voice in a Studio Ghibli movie and appeared in "Roswell" and "Will & Grace" before being cast in the family adventure film franchise that gave him a place in pop culture history.
Most know Sabara for his role as the leather-clad superspy Juni Cortez in the "Spy Kids" franchise. But unlike some child stars, he has acted little since his heyday during the early aughts. "I felt like I was retired at 12," he told Mr Feelgood in an interview. "We did 'Spy Kids' one, two, and three — back to back. So that was five years straight. And then, after that, I was 12 and was going through puberty — and that was really weird. ... I went to public school, and was bullied for being 'the 'Spy Kids' kid.' Now I'm older I can see jealousy played a part there, but it didn't feel like that at the time."
Like many child stars, Sabara struggled to transition into a fruitful acting career as an adult. But that doesn't mean Sabara is longing for a comeback. He seems quite happy with the life he has built. Stick with us and we'll catch you up on everything Sabara has been up to since playing Juni Cortez in the "Spy Kids" franchise.
He continued acting in various series and films
After filming the "Spy Kids" trilogy, Daryl Sabara had numerous small roles in television series. He appeared in two episodes of "Wizards of Waverly Place" as T.J. Taylor, a young wizard who doesn't like to play by the rules. He had one-episode appearances in some of the hottest shows of the 2000s, too, having guest starred in one episode of "Friends" in 2003 and played a patient at the center of a case in one episode of "House" in 2005. Sabara gave a memorable performance in one episode of "Criminal Minds," as a teenager caught up in a child-porn human trafficking ring. Sabara appeared in seven episodes of "Weeds" between 2005 and 2012 as Tim Scottson, a boy with anger management issues who tangles with Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) and her children repeatedly throughout the series. Sabara also joined the main cast of the short-lived sitcom "Resident Advisors" as Leslie Flowers, a male college student who is accidentally paired with a female roommate.
On the big screen, he played Kyle in the black comedy "World's Greatest Dad," with Robin Williams playing his father. Sabara has said it's his favorite role as an actor. He also appeared in a slew of forgettable teen movies, such as, "Her Best Move," "Worst. Prom. Ever," "Normal Adolescent Behavior," and "Teen Lust."
During this period of his career, it also seems Sabara was trying to distance himself from Juni Cortez. The roles he took weren't obvious picks for the former lead of a family-friendly spy franchise. In Rob Zombie's 2007 "Halloween" prequel, for instance, Sabara plays a school bully who becomes the first victim of a young Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch). Sabara appeared five years later as author Edgar Rice Burroughs in the massive box-office bomb "John Carter."
Daryl Sabara starred in a controversial cannibal horror movie
Director Eli Roth's "The Green Inferno" stirred up controversy and the ire of many critics and audiences when it finally came out. The Guardian called it "gleefully offensive" torture porn, and the film was criticized for its depiction of Indigenous people as cannibals. Others criticized the excessive gore — but they shouldn't have been surprised, considering Roth's track record with films such as "Hostel." Despite the ire it inspired, "The Green Inferno" is still a favorite of some horror aficionados, who recognize it as an homage to a famous horror sub-genre and understand its satirical nature.
Daryl Sabara found his way onto the project through a friend, Aaron Burns, who plays Jonah in the film. The story follows New York City college students who travel to the Amazon to protest on behalf of the indigenous inhabitants whose ancestral land is being stripped of natural resources by a corporation. The do-gooders are ultimately hunted, held prisoner, tortured, and eaten by the very people the students imagined they were traveling to South America to help. Sabara plays the hysterical stoner of the group.
"The Green Inferno" was filmed deep in the Peruvian jungle and was a unique filming experience. "It was intense, but when you're in the Amazon, you look up at the sky and it's just like a painting," Sabara told Daily Dead. "It's so beautiful there. And the villagers who played the cannibals are some of the most giving actors I've ever worked with. You tell them to go there and they just go there. It was so much fun."
He began voice acting early in his career
Not every role the "Spy Kids" actor took on was a bold, out-of-left-field choice. Daryl Sabara lent his voice to the protagonist in Robert Zemeckis' 2004 Christmas classic "The Polar Express," opposite Tom Hanks' conductor. Sabara said on the podcast "Workin' On It" that he auditioned for the role when he was young, around the time he made "Spy Kids," but given the animated film's long production time, he heard nothing until he was shooting "Spy Kids 3-D." Sabara could not film the motion capture for "The Polar Express" because of scheduling conflicts. Eventually, Sabara was brought on to voice Hero Boy in post-production — but only after, he said, efforts to pitch Hanks' voice up didn't sound convincing. The final performance was a group effort — in addition to Sabara's voice, Hanks did the motion-capture performance for the child character, and "Hunger Games" star Josh Hutcherson provided additional motion-capture work.
"Ever since Polar Express, it actually opened up a lot of doors for voice acting, and voice acting is amazing," Sabara shared with his wife and brother-in-law on "Workin' On It." Sabara went on to voice Hunter in 12 episodes of "Father of the Pride." He appeared in episodes of "American Dragon: Jake Long," "The Batman," "The Boondocks," and various "Scooby Doo" animated projects. In 2009, Sabara reunited with Robert Zemeckis, lending his voice to numerous characters in "A Christmas Carol," starring Jim Carrey.
Daryl Sabara took a shot at stage acting
In 2014, Daryl Sabara temporarily moved to New York City to perform in an Off-Broadway play, "The Library," directed by Steven Soderbergh. Sabara co-starred with Chloë Grace Moretz, who plays a school shooting survivor, Caitlin, whose version of the events differs from others who were there that day. Sabara plays a character who accuses Caitlin of leading the shooter to a closet where students were hiding. "I wanted to write a play about the stories we tell each other in the face of calamity — the pretty lies and the brutal truths," screenwriter Scott Z. Burns told The Hollywood Reporter. The Columbine tragedy loosely inspired the play.
This wasn't Sabara's first time performing in a project inspired by a school shooting. His 2009 film "April Showers" also follows the story of a school shooting survivor, and was directed by Andrew Robinson, who is a survivor of the Columbine shooting.
He's really into meditation
Daryl Sabara said he was interested in meditation as a teenager but began incorporating it into his life in 2014 as a result of "The Library." "I did a play out here Off-Broadway," he told physician and internet personality Mike Varshavski on his podcast "Doctor Mike." "And the play was a really heavy subject matter. It was really dark, and I wasn't sleeping at night and was showing up to rehearsal exhausted." During rehearsals on "The Library," Sabara said, he heard the playwright Scott Z. Burns and one of the actors, Michael O'Keefe, talking about meditation. He said Burns suggested Transcendental Meditation and O'Keefe introduced him to basic mindfulness. Sabara told Varshavski that he did his first meditation via telephone with ordained Shingon monk Shinzen Young. When Sabara moved back to Los Angeles, he said, the "Spy Kids" actor got really into various meditation apps, including Headspace, Calm, and 10% Happier.
Basic mindfulness and guided meditations with these apps helped Sabara feel like he had more control over his thoughts and emotions, he said. Years later, while getting in shape for his wedding with a personal trainer, Sabara said he noticed something different about their trainer. The trainer admitted that he had recently begun practicing Transcendental Meditation and passed along his teacher's information. "I kinda feel like there is a shift of my life pre-TM and post-TM," Sabara told Doctor Mike. He explained how he practices Transcendental Meditation twice a day for 20 minutes, "Sitting in as much silence as you can find."
He is married to Meghan Trainor
Mutual friend Chloë Grace Moretz set Daryl Sabara and Meghan Trainor up in 2016, and it was love at first sight for Sabara. "I knew as soon as she walked in that she was the one," Sabara told Doctor Mike on his podcast. "And I'd never felt that before, and it was just a whirlwind experience." Sabara went on to explain that this isn't how they actually met for the first time. They met at a house party a couple of years earlier when Trainor recognized him from "Spy Kids."
Shortly before being set up with Trainor, Sabara said, he did a sensory deprivation tank session and was overwhelmed by anxiety. He said he began talking to himself out loud, trying to push off panic, and came to a realization. "I am ready for a relationship," Sabara told Trainor on her podcast "Workin' On It," recounting the revelation he experienced. "I just want to find a girl who's smarter than me, more talented than me, gonna make me a better person, and boom, there you were!"
It was an instant yes for both of them. "I definitely was positive month one when he was on tour with me, and we were like basically living together on the road," Trainor told People. They got engaged in December 2017, when Sabara proposed before Trainor's 24th birthday, and had a fairy-tale wedding one year later in December 2018, in a backyard ceremony at their Los Angeles home.
TMZ accused Daryl Sabara of vandalism
In 2019, TMZ published an article claiming Daryl Sabara was charged with two misdemeanors, one for vandalism and one for tampering with a vehicle after allegedly ripping the custom side panels of a parked car near the UCLA campus. According to TMZ, they got this information from sources within law enforcement and Sabara was caught on surveillance cameras. Per TMZ the owner of the vandalized car didn't know Sabara and was perplexed as to why the star would damage his property.
Other outlets, including Access Hollywood and Fox News, reported Sabara took to Twitter to deny the charges, writing, "Woke up to false accusations... happy Sunday y'all." Sabara no longer has a Twitter account, making these allegations and Sabara's response to them a bit of a mystery. With no other outlets confirming these accusations and no further information on the supposed charges, it appears TMZ was given bad information by their sources.
He's a devoted dad to two boys
"If we could do it how we want to, we'd be, like, totally preggo right now!" Meghan Trainor told People less than a month after her wedding to Daryl Sabara. She said they planned to wait to have kids until after the tour wrapped up for her third album. Trainor gave birth to their first son, Riley, on February 8, 2021. Trainor wrote a book about her first pregnancy and delivery, sharing her gestational diabetes diagnosis and how terrifying Riley's birth was. After being delivered via cesarean section, Riley had to be brought to the neonatal intensive care unit. Luckily he was a healthy little boy despite the scare.
From his Instagram bio — "Riley and Barry's Dad" — to all the family photos he shares, it's obvious Sabara loves being a dad. Sabara shared how being a father has been an opportunity to define fatherhood (and manhood) for himself. "When Riley turned one, I had this kind of breakdown, as I'd surpassed the amount of time my dad was with me," Sabara confided to Mr Feelgood. "I couldn't imagine ever leaving my son." He continued, "I feel like I'm on my second life right now. ... As much fun as I had doing the 'Spy Kids' movies, I did miss out on a lot of childhood. ... Riley is now teaching me to play." On July 1, 2023, Trainor gave birth to the couple's second son, Barry. "I can't wait to see what my next son teaches me," Sabara said shortly before Barry's birth.
Daryl Sabara used to be a bio-hacking devotee
According to Daryl Sabara, from a very young age, he was pressured to lose weight and was put on a diet because of his profession. "There was a point in time where I was basically told at a really young age, 'Hey, if you don't lose weight, then we might have to recast you,'" Sabara told Mike Varshavski on his podcast "Doctor Mike," while admitting he was so young he doesn't remember exactly how it was phrased but remembers the request was shared via email. Sabara said he believes these early experiences led to him not having a healthy relationship with food.
He said he tried many fad diets and exercise regiments, hoping to get shredded like Brad Pitt in "Fight Club." During his conversation with Doctor Mike, Sabara reflected on how becoming a father made him reevaluate his relationship with food and look at nutrition from a new, healthier perspective. Despite healing some of his childhood wounds around food and body image, Sabara said, he still likes to try out health trends and optimize his wellness routine. Sabara also said he recently incorporated cold plunges into his weekly wellness regimen.
He adopted a sober lifestyle
Daryl Sabara said he decided to stop drinking alcohol because of fatherhood. "I had my first hangover as a dad almost a year ago," Sabara told Mr Feelgood. "That was the worst feeling in the world, and I said, 'I'll never do this again.' Also, for a really long time the only thing that I knew about my dad was that he was an alcoholic. And it's genetic. So after that hangover, I said, 'I surrender. I never want to feel this way again.'"
Sabara credited therapy for helping him understand his triggers while navigating sobriety. "[I'm] figuring out that being alone is, kind of, a trigger for me," he said on "Workin' On It" while talking about his sobriety with his wife and brother-in-law on their podcast. "I know now that when I'm alone to be ready for the little bastard inside my head to be like, 'Hey buddy, it's just us now. What are we gonna do?' That's huge to know that it's coming instead of just going straight to booze or weed."
He said he decided to quit pot as well. "That was hard for me because there was no repercussions of weed," Sabara shared during the same podcast. "But one piece of advice that my therapist gave me that was so helpful was, she just said, 'If you want to be on your A-game, maybe consider full sobriety.'" Sabara is digging the sober life, telling Mr Feelgood, "Sobriety has given me more clarity."
He's thriving as a voice actor
While he might not get in front of the camera often these days unless it's in one of his wife Meghan Trainor's music videos, Daryl Sabara has continued working behind the scenes doing voice work throughout his career. He has lent his voice to video games, animated series, and animated features. Sabara began lending his voice to video games in 2003 with the "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" video game. The highest-profile game he contributed his voice to has been "Saints Row: The Third," for which he's credited for crowd and pedestrian voices. He also voiced Rex in the "FusionFall" and "Generator Rex: Agent of Providence" video games, and he also voices Rex in 59 episodes of the animated television series "Generator Rex."
Sabara has also lent his voice to numerous "Ben 10" productions and 11 episodes of "Ultimate Spider-Man" as the Rhino. Interestingly enough, Daryl's fraternal twin brother, Evan Sabara, has also done voice acting and voices Dick Grayson in the 2004 to 2008 animated series "The Batman." "Voice acting's super fun because you can kind of go there and be super corny and cheesy and not worry about it," Daryl Sabara said during the podcast "Workin' On It," adding how freeing voice acting is because "no one's filming your face so you can use your body and stuff and go nuts."
His family comes before his acting career
Daryl Sabara is now focused on family life and prioritizes being a husband and father over chasing an acting career. "I didn't have a dad in my home growing up, but from watching movies, the way I used to think about fatherhood was: Dad goes to work, comes home, and mom puts the dinner on the table," Sabara told Mr Feelgood. "And my experience couldn't be more opposite. I'm almost a stay-at-home dad."
Just one look at his Instagram or TikTok accounts makes it clear that Sabara's life revolves around his family, and he seems to be quite happy with that. "Not having a dad myself, I never saw myself being married, and never saw myself being a dad," Sabara said. "Now, my life is just unfolding, and I'm getting all these amazing experiences I never thought I would have. I love being a husband. My wife just makes me a better person."
Sabara said his purpose in life is to take care of his family. "Meghan works a lot more than I do," he said on "Doctor Mike." "And she is a busy, busy woman. ... I feel like my job is to help her make sure that she's okay, and so I'm always the one to be like, hey, let's take a break." Sabara might be known for playing Juni Cortez in "Spy Kids," but his real-life superpower is embracing his responsibilities as a father and dedicated husband.