Hallmark Couple Talks Leaving Hollywood

Alex and Carlos PenaVega, one of Hallmark’s leading couples, had to leave Hollywood because the quick-paced schedule just didn’t match the family-focused lifestyle they wanted to lead. They recently opened up about that decision.

The PenaVegas Left Hollywood for Hawaii To Live a More Family-Focused Life

The PenaVegas

The PenaVegas once lived in Los Angeles, but they left the Hollywood life for a quieter atmosphere in Hawaii where they could focus more on their family. They made the move in 2017.

Alexa told People that they never fit the Hollywood mold. She said: “When we were living in California, there was never actually a break. The industry happens 24/7. And we thought, we need a place to go and reconnect and that needs to be our home.”

Carlos said about their Hollywood lives: “I couldn’t relate to people who didn’t necessarily agree with the way I wanted to live my life.”

Alexa told People that after their first son, Ocean, was born in 2016, they realized that their lives and their priorities were just very different from the other people around them. She said their friends were great, but they didn’t have kids and they weren’t married, so their lifestyles were vastly different.

Maui, meanwhile, helped them meet other Christian couples who lived life as they did, and they felt a real weight lifted emotionally.

They Met in Bible Study

Crown Media

Carlos is a musician and member of the band Big Time Rush. He also portrayed Carlos Garcia on the TV series Big Time Rush on Nickelodeon. At the time he was Carlos Pena Jr. Since then, he’s starred in many productions, including Enchanted Christmas, A Midnight Kiss, Sleep Away, Life Sentence, The Power Couple, The Loud House, and The Casagrandes. 

Alexa (originally Alexa Vega) is an actress and singer who played Carmen Cortez in the Spy Kids films. Her many other credits include Unsupervised, Ruby & the Rockits, The Middle, Ghost Whisperer, Ladies Man, To Have & To Hold, Life’s Work, Evening Shade, Unsupervised, The Tomorrow People, Nashville, Muertoons, Enchanted Christmas, Sleep Away, Christmas Made to Order, The Loud House, The Power Couple, The Casagrandes, and more.

The two originally met in Bible study, and then they went on to run their own Bible study, People reported. After they were married, they combined their names.

The Couple Works Together Closely

Today, Alexa and Carlos PenaVega work together closely. They competed on Dancing with the Stars, are the leads in a Hallmark series called Picture Perfect Mysteries, and starred in a movie Mighty Oak together. They’re also in The Casagrandes together and much more.

Alexa told TVFanatic that when she was first approached about doing a mystery movie, she passed until she could do one with Carlos. Now they’ve starred in numerous Hallmark movies together. In 2018, they starred in Love at Sea, which was filmed on a cruise ship. So they got to have a vacation together as part of their job.

The couple recently launched a new podcast called Cross Your Heart.

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