Carlos PenaVega

Carlos in 2016

**Carlos Roberto PenaVega** (born **Carlos Roberto Pena Jr.**; August 15, 1989) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for starring on the Nickelodeon series *Big Time Rush* as Carlos García in addition to being a member of the band Big Time Rush. He was the host of the Nickelodeon game show *Webheads*.

## Early Life

Carlos Roberto Pena Jr. was born on August 15, 1989 in Columbia, Missouri. His father is of Spanish and Venezuelan descent, while his mother is of Dominican descent.He was raised in Weston, Florida.  He attended Sagemont Upper School where he was a cheerleader. He appeared in local productions of *Grease* and *Man of La Mancha*. He also had a role in a production of *Titanic* by the American Heritage School, where he attended before leaving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.  During his run in*Titanic* he fell in love with singing and dancing.

## Career

His first acting role was a guest star at age ten on *ER*, followed later that year by guest-starring roles on *Judging Amy*, *Summerland*, and *Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide*.

While still in high school, Pena appeared in television commercials for the Super Soaker brand recreational water gun, and his image even appeared on the toy's packaging. Pena 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 2 years later. Pena moved to Hollywood in August 2009.

### Big Time Rush

Big Time Rush is an American pop boy band that formed in 2009. The band consists of Pena, Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, and Logan Henderson, all on vocals. Pena 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, Jonathan Rotem. As of 2011, the band has released two albums, BTR and Elevate. They recently released their third album, 24/Seven, in which Pena wrote and co-wrote almost every song. He co-wrote "Picture This" with bandmate, James Maslow. Pena 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.

### 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 presented for first time at the Nickelodeon Colombia Kids' Choice Awards given in Bogotá. It was announced on August 27, 2015, that Carlos PenaVega would be competing on the 21st season of *Dancing with the Stars*. His wife, Alexa PenaVega, was also announced as one of the contestants who would be competing against him on the show. His professional partner was Witney Carson. PenaVega and Carson reached the Finals of the show but were eliminated on Night 1 and ended the competition in fourth place.

## Personal Life

Pena married actress Alexa Vega on January 4, 2014, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They combined their last names upon marriage and now go by Carlos and Alexa PenaVega.

On June 16, 2016, the couple announced via Instagram that they are expecting their first child.

## Facts

* Carlos wrote "Lost In Love" for Alexa one week after he saw her.
* He is a certified scuba diver

## Official Accounts

* Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/BG9pphZCPfj/?taken-by=therealcarlospena&hl=en
* YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3jFBe-opFLhjg6cmMVkOwg
* Twitter https://twitter.com/TheCarlosPena
* FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/OfficialCarlosPena/

## Sources

* Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos\_Pena\_Jr.