Michael Peña (; ; born January 13, 1976) is an American actor. He has starred in many films, including ''
Crash'' (2004), ''
World Trade Center'' (2006), ''
Shooter'' (2007), ''
Observe and Report'' (2009), ''
Tower Heist'' (2011), ''
Battle: Los Angeles'' (2011), ''
End of Watch'' (2012), and ''
Gangster Squad'' (2013). He has also acted in films such as ''
American Hustle'' (2013), ''
The Martian'' (2015), ''
Ant-Man'' (2015) and its sequel ''
Ant-Man and the Wasp'' (2018), and ''
Extinction
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
'' (2018). Peña had the title role in ''
Cesar Chavez'' (2014), played
DEA agent
Kiki Camarena
Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (July 26, 1947 – February 9, 1985) was a Mexican-American agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In February 1985, Camarena was kidnapped by police officers hired by the Guadalajara Cartel. After b ...
in season one of the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series ''
Narcos: Mexico'' (2018), and
CIA agent Domingo Chavez in season 4 of the
Prime Video series ''
Jack Ryan'' (2023).
He was nominated for the
Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in ''End of Watch.''
Early life
Peña was born on January 13, 1976, in
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, the son of Nicolasa, a
social worker
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
, and Eleuterio Peña, a factory worker. Peña's parents were originally farmers, and emigrated from Mexico; his father was from
Villa Purificación,
Jalisco
Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...
, and his mother was from
Charcas, San Luis Potosí.
He grew up in the
North Lawndale area and attended
Marist High School, and graduated from
Hubbard High School where he participated and was a state qualifier in wrestling and track.
Career
Film
Though Peña has been a regular in independent productions since 1996, his breakthrough performances came in two
Best Picture Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People and fictional and mythical characters
* Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar
* Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
-winning
Paul Haggis-penned films, ''
Million Dollar Baby
''Million Dollar Baby'' is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, scored by and starring Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by Paul Haggis. It is based on stories from the 2000 collection ''Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner' ...
'' (2004) and ''
Crash'' (2004). The former was directed by
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
, and the latter was directed by Haggis. Though both films are critically acclaimed, Peña received attention for his particularly emotional performance in ''Crash''. The following year, he appeared on the
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
-winning series ''
The Shield''. He starred in
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...
's film based on the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, ''
World Trade Center''. He also had a small role in
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu (born 15 August 1963) is a Mexican filmmaker primarily known for making modern psychological drama (film genre), psychological drama films about the human condition. His most notable films include ''Amores perros ...
's film ''
Babel''. This gives him the rare distinction of having appeared in three consecutive films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
In 2006, Peña starred in the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
film ''
Walkout
In labor disputes, a walkout is a labor strike, the act of employees collectively leaving the workplace and withholding labor as an act of protest.
A walkout can also mean the act of leaving a place of work, school, a meeting, a company, or an ...
'' as
Sal Castro, a Mexican-American high school teacher who inspires a group of
East L.A. high school students to fight for
Chicano
Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement.
In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...
rights.
He starred alongside
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), formerly known by his stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, producer, and former rapper. Mark Wahlberg filmography, His work as a leading actor, leading man spans the Comedy film, come ...
in ''
Shooter'' (2007) as novice
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
agent Nick Memphis. In 2009, he played a mall security guard alongside
Seth Rogen
Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known primarily for his comedic Leading actor, leading man roles in films, the accolades he has received include nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, ...
in
Jody Hill's ''
Observe and Report''.
In 2012, he co-starred with
Jake Gyllenhaal as a Los Angeles police officer, in ''
End of Watch''. The same year, he began filming ''
César Chávez
Cesario Estrada Chavez (; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), ...
'', a
biopic
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...
about the life of American
labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
leader
César Chávez
Cesario Estrada Chavez (; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), ...
, who founded the
United Farm Workers
The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the National Farm Workers Associatio ...
. Peña stars as Chávez.
[McNary, Dave. "Participant Marches With 'Chavez'." '' Variety''. June 5, 2012.] He appeared alongside
Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...
,
Shia LaBeouf,
Logan Lerman, and
Jon Bernthal in the World War II-set action film ''
Fury'' (2014),
and portrayed Luis in ''
Ant-Man'' (2015).
In 2015, Peña was a principal player of the ensemble cast for his role on board the Ares-III space-craft to Mars, in the award-winning
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...
sci-film ''
The Martian''.
Peña starred in ''
12 Strong'' alongside
Chris Hemsworth. He also starred in the 2018 remake of ''
A Wrinkle in Time
''A Wrinkle in Time'' is a young adult science fantasy novel written by American author Madeleine L'Engle. First published in 1962, the book won the Newbery Medal, the Sequoyah Book Award and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was runner-u ...
'', where he played the main antagonist, The IT, in his human form (known as "Red"). In 2020, Peña took a turn as the mysterious and enigmatic Mr. Roarke in the critically panned prequel ''
Fantasy Island''.
Television
In December 2017, it was reported that Peña had joined the cast of ''
Narcos'' for its upcoming fourth season. It was later revealed that the fourth season would be a new series, ''
Narcos: Mexico'', with Peña starring as
DEA agent
Kiki Camarena
Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (July 26, 1947 – February 9, 1985) was a Mexican-American agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In February 1985, Camarena was kidnapped by police officers hired by the Guadalajara Cartel. After b ...
.
Voice acting
Peña voiced the character Ricky in the
FX animated comedy ''
Chozen
''Chozen'' is an American adult animated sitcom on FX (TV channel), FX. The series aired from January 13 to March 31, 2014, and which was created by Grant Dekernion.[Turbo
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...]
'', he voiced Tito. He also provided vocals for the character Marguerite (in the episode "Hot Water") for the popular animated series ''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...
''.
Music
In 2005, Peña formed the Los Angeles rock band
Nico Vega, named after his mother, Nicolasa. He left the band in 2007 to concentrate on his acting career, but co-wrote the track "
Beast", which reached No. 26 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Rock Songs Chart. Peña starred in a video created for
Midlake's track "Bethel Woods", which premiered January 12, 2022. He returned with Nico Vega in December 2023.
Personal life
Peña has been a member of
Scientology
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a Scientology as a business, business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially develo ...
since 2000.
In 2006, he married Brie Shaffer. They have one son, named Roman, born in 2008.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video game
References
External links
*
Q&A Sessions: Michael PeñaLions for Lambs interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pena, Michael
1976 births
Male actors from Chicago
American male actors of Mexican descent
American male film actors
American Scientologists
American male television actors
Hispanic and Latino American male actors
American people of Indigenous Mexican descent
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners