Back in the early 2000s, Robert Rodriguez dominated the world of kid-friendly cinema. The Spy Kids franchise was a pop culture juggernaut, with the first film becoming a smashing $147 million hit made on a $35 million budget. Naturally, studios gave Rodriguez carte blanche for his wildest projects, and that led us to The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.
With its trippy visuals and family-friendly humor, the film has recently regained some online popularity – it is very meme-worthy, after all. At the heart of the film were Taylor Lautner (Sharkboy) and Taylor Dooley (Lavagirl.) We know what happened to Lautner—but what became of Dooley? Keep reading to find out!
Right after Sharkboy and Lavagirl, Dooley remained in close contact with the entertainment industry. From 2006 to 2009, Dooley starred in a variety of indie projects, including Monster Night, Whitepaddy, and The Alyson Stoner Project. In 2008, she made a guest appearance on a Season 5 episode of House M. D.
Growing up in the spotlight can be a draining undertaking, and for Taylor Dooley, the time to step away from the mainstream was steadily approaching.
Around 2010, Dooley quietly stepped back from the spotlights. It was time for the actress to enjoy the ups and downs of a traditional adolescence. Dooley focused on her education, finishing high school and eventually attending California State University, Northridge.
Ultimately, Dooley would spend almost a decade away from Hollywood – technically speaking, at least. She remained a California resident even after pausing her acting career. It was there that she met her husband, Justin Cassotta.
Dooley and Cassotta tied the knot on May 14, 2016. A few months later, “Lavagirl” became a mom. Their first child, a son named Jack, was born in November 2016. A few years later, in 2019, the couple welcomed a daughter, Adaline, into the world. Then, in 2020, something rather unexpected happened: a new Robert Rodriguez film required Lavagirl’s return – and Dooley was more than ready to answer that call.
In 2020, just as the world was trapped in a seemingly never-ending stream of horrible news, Rodriguez unleashed his new film, We Can Be Heroes, onto Netflix on Christmas Day. The movie was a spiritual successor to The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Though Taylor Lautner did not reprise his role, Dooley most certainly did, much to the surprise of her fans.
After We Can Be Heroes, Dooley made some radical changes in her life. In 2021, she parted ways with her husband. Two years later, in 2023, Dooley got the chance to experience what she calls a “real-life fairytale” when she married Nicholas Poppin. The next year, in 2024, the couple moved away from California, settling down in Tennessee. They frequently post heartwarming snippets of their life together on Dooley’s Instagram, proving that, for Lavagirl, dreams really did come true.
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