Carlos PenaVega[1] (né Pena; August 15, 1989)[2] is an American actor and singer. He starred on the Nickelodeon series Big Time Rush as Carlos García, and was a member of the band Big Time Rush. He was also the host of the network’s game show Webheads.
Early life[]
PenaVega was born in Columbia, Missouri.[1] His father is of Spanish and Venezuelan descent, and his mother is Dominican.[3] He was raised in Weston, Florida.[2][4] He attended Sagemont Upper School where he was a cheerleader. He appeared in local productions of Grease and Man of La Mancha.[5] He also had a role in a production of Titanic by the American Heritage School, which he attended before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.[4][6] During his run in Titanic he fell in love with singing and dancing.
Career[]
2004-2013: Career beginning and Big Time Rush[]
His first acting role was a guest star at the age of 15 on ER, followed later that year by guest-starring roles on Judging Amy, Summerland, and Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.[7][4][6][8] While still in high school, PenaVega appeared in television commercials for the Super Soakerbrand recreational water gun, and his image even appeared on the toy's packaging. PenaVega was studying musical theater at the Boston Conservatory when his manager urged him to audition for Big Time Rush. Although he was reluctant to do so, he submitted an audition tape and won the role almost two years later.[2]PenaVega moved to Hollywood in August 2009.
Big Time Rush is an American pop boy band that formed in 2009. The band consists of PenaVega, Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, and Logan Henderson, all on vocals. PenaVega co-wrote the song "Oh Yeah" off of the group's first album, BTR. On the second album, he wrote "Invisible" along with Charley Greenberg, Cody Williams, Daniel Andrew Wayne and J.R. Rotem. As of 2011, the band has released two albums, BTR and Elevate. They recently released their third album, 24/Seven, in which PenaVega wrote and co-wrote almost every song. He co-wrote "Picture This" with bandmate, James Maslow. PenaVega wrote "Lost in Love" for his wife, Alexa PenaVega. He also wrote the song "Na Na Na" on 24/Seven. In addition, BTR embarked on the Summer Break Tour, in support of the album.
2014-present: Solo career[]
He released his first solo single in Spanish on February 4, 2014, titled "Electrico". The song charted in the top 10 of the Latin iTunes songs charts on release, yet failed to chart anywhere else. He was presented for the first time at the first annual Nickelodeon Colombia Kids' Choice Awards given in Bogotá. PenaVega competed on the 21st season of Dancing with the Stars in Fall 2015. His wife was also a contestant that season.[9] His professional partner was Witney Carson.[10] PenaVega and Carson reached the finals but were eliminated on the week’s performance night and ended the competition in fourth place.
In August 2013, PenaVega became engaged to actress Alexa Vega.[11][12] The couple married on January 4, 2014 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico,[13] both taking PenaVega as their married name. They are both devout Christian. [14] They share a YouTube channel, LexLovesLos.[15] The couple's first son was born in December 2016.[16] Their second son was born in June 2019.