The Ashanti (also Asante) are a major ethnic group from Africa. Prior to European colonization, the Ashanti Confederacy was a major state, particularly during the period from 1570 to 1900. Ashanti wealth was based on the region's substantial deposits of gold. Under successive paramount chiefs (called "Asantehenes") the kingdom also participated in the African slave trade. The Ashanti would sometimes capture people of surrounding nations and sell them to European slavers. This trade ceased in the early-to-middle 19th century.
Alexa landed other small roles in ER and Ladies Man. Her film credits include a role as Priscilla O'Shea in "Little Giants", Gina in "Dennis the Menace Strikes Again", young Helen Hunt in "Twister", and roles in "Nine Months", "The Glimmer Man", and "Ghosts of the Mississippi". Just before she got involved in the movie that turned her career around, Alexa was acting in "Follow the Stars Home". Then she went in to audition for a Robert Rodriguez movie.
She almost didn't land the role. She was busy, probably with "Follow the Stars Home", and all the other girls trying out were 8, while she was 10. But that didn't keep Rodriguez from spotting her talent. She was cast as Carmen Cortez, a secret agent, in the 007 spoof "Spy Kids".
The movie was great. Tons of kids watched the movie and wanted to be just like "Carmen and Juni". Alexa met many people on the set of Spy Kids, including Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alan Cumming, Tony Shalhoub, and George Clooney, who made a cameo appearance as "Devlin". The first film was followed by two more: "Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams", and "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over". Alexa met more stars like Haley Joel Osment's little sister Emily, Matt O'Leary, and Elijah Wood. She also prooved heroic to kids everywhere by doing the majority of her stuntwork, the more dangerous stuff done by Katie Boggs, who also became her best friend. She even got a start on a music career with songs "Isle of Dreams" and "Game Over". She got her first kiss on the set of Spy Kids 2.
"I got my first kiss while we were filming Spy Kids 2. He was one of the stunt doubles and a year older than me. We started out as great friends and then realized we had a crush on each other. It was just a little peck, but it was wonderful. I had such butterflies in my stomach."
Alexa "cried like a baby" the last day of shooting Spy Kids 3-D. She was going to miss all of her friends she'd made in the last four years. They felt like family to her!
But it wasn't the end of this spy girl's career. She was on to new things, such as a film of her own called "Sleepover", where she would get her first onscreen kiss...
The film didn't do too well in the box office, unfortunately. In an interview, Vega said that it was "bye-bye" to teen movies. Her next two films are entitled "States Evidence" and "Walkout".
