Spy Kids franchise child star Alexa Vega is all growns up and eager for the movie-going world to take her breasts seriously. That is why the now 24-year-old Latina is playing whore house hitwoman KillJoy in Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills, a sequel to the director’s 2010 grind-house actioner Machete.

Vega, who tweeted the above photo of her costars in July, told THR that she took the sexy role in an effort to embrace her sexuality, recanting how Rodriguez, who directed her in Spy Kids, approached her for the part by saying “I have a role for you, but I don’t know if you’re ready to do this.”

Vega told THR:

I’ve never done anything like this. I’d never felt comfortable enough, and I never thought this would be the project where I’d take a step forward.

The first time I walked out in my outfit on set, everyone was like, ‘Wow, you’re not allowed to wear that!’

This was all about owning my sexuality. I worked really hard for it in a way that I never had to work hard for something before.

Machete Kills follows ex-Federale Machete (Danny Trejo) as he’s recruited by the U.S. government to bring down a billionaire arms dealer (Mel Gibson) threatening global warfare with a high-tech space weapon. Costars include Charlie Sheen, Sofia Vergara, Zoe Saldana, Amber Heard, Vanessa Hudgens, twins Elise and Electra Avellan, Lady Gaga and returning players Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriguez.

The film is slated for release next year.