Carla Guggino was a straight-A student throughout high school and graduated as valedictorian. She began modeling at age 15 after being discovered by a major modeling agency which sent her to New York. She, however, decided to leave New York for Los Angeles and began modeling and enrolling in an acting class there.

Kicking off her professional acting career in the late 1980s, Gugino early appearances were on TV features "Saved by the Bell", "Who's the Boss?", "ALF", "Doogie Howser, M.D.", "The Wonder Years", and a recurring role on "Falcon Crest". A string of other parts followed, but the August 29, 1971 born actress was best recognized for her roles as Ashley Schaeffer on "Sin City", Dr. Gina Simon on "Chicago Hope", and as Amanda Daniels on "Entourage". After that, she was billed as the lead characters on crime drama series "Karen Sisco" and science fiction drama series "Threshold".

On the big screen, Gugino made her debut in the 1989 movie "Troop Beverly Hills" which was followed by parts in several other flicks. It wasn't until the year 2001 though that she rose to prominence with her starring role as Ingrid Cortez in the "Spy Kids" film franchise; "Spy Kids", "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams", also "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over". She, moreover, was also known for her action in "Sin City", "Night at the Museum", "Race to Witch Mountain", "Sucker Punch", as well as "Man of Steel".

Gugino, who was born in Sarasota, Florida, has been dating her collaborator, writer/producer/director Sebastian Gutierrez since 2005.