This year is proving to be Latino actor Michael Peña’s year.
Along with drawing attention for portraying activist Cesar Chavez in the biographical film Chavez, Peña’s growing film roles include Frontera with fellow Latino actress Eva Longoria, to Fury with Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt, and currently in theater Marvel’s Antman, Peña years of hard work in the entertainment industry is paying off.
“It’s always a struggle you have to fight for all these different roles,” said Peña, while talking about how he feels he has made it and describing how Hollywood can be both a tough and challenging business to break into while promoting his latest film The Vatican Tapes.
The Vatican Tapes revolves around a priest Peña plays named Father Lozano who is trying to help a young woman who has been possessed by a diabolical entity. Peña was drawn to the film because he notes that the film’s religious and horror genre is very alluring for Latino audiences.
“In the Jennifer Lawrence horror movie, half of Latinos went to go see that,” notes Peña, referring to the 2012 thriller film House at the End of the Street, which “inspired me to look for a cool horror movie.”
Peña also adds that the religious element of the film which pulls in Latino movie goers.
“This, I think, was perfect because a lot of Latinos grew up Catholic or in very religious households and I think that’s why we gravitate toward this kind of movie.”
Appearing in films that are appealing to Latino audiences is something that is important to the 39-year-old actor who has been in an array of films, playing characters of various backgrounds because for Peña the wide range of roles he played allows Latino audience members to see themselves in various roles they see fit within their everyday life.
“I remember like watching Edward James Olmos [play] a teacher in calculus, and that’s kind of inspiring to kids to people of Latino descent,” Peña said, adding, “ remember in high school I took up calculus, it was a big motivator for me, so maybe who knows I can inspire some people,” seeing firsthand how inspiring representation of Latinos in positive movie roles can have on younger, or other Latinos.
Peña has appeared in the following recent movies::
Some of his most popular movies include “Crash” in 2004, where he played the role of Officer Daniel, “World Trade Center” in 2006, where he portrayed the character of Will Jimeno, “End of Watch” in 2012, where he starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal as Officer Zavala. “The Lincoln Lawyer” in 2011, where he played Jesus Martinez, Chips, 2017 where he plays officer Frank “Ponch” Poncherello and 12 Strong as Sergeant Sam Diller. In 2019, its Fantasy Island, he plays Mr. Julian Roarke. In 2022 he portrays Tom Lopez in Moonfall and Ansel Argon in Secret Headquarters.
Peña’s other movie credits include “American Hustle” in 2013, “Fury” in 2014, “Ant-Man” in 2015, “The Martian” in 2015, “Collateral Beauty” in 2016, “12 Strong” in 2018, “A Wrinkle in Time” in 2018, , among others.
In addition to his movie roles, Peña has also appeared in several TV shows, such as; Detective Armando Renta in “The Shield” from 2006 to 2008, and he also appeared as Alex Torres in “Eastbound & Down” from 2012 to 2013. Another notable TV show that he appeared in was “Narcos: Mexico,” where he played the role of DEA agent Kiki Camarena from 2018 to 2020.
Other facts to know about Michael:
- Parents were farmers who migrated to the U.S. from Mexico.
- His first role was in Peter Bogdanovich’s movie-of-the-week To Sir, With Love 2.
- Briefly lived in a van while pursuing acting work in Los Angeles.
- Appeared in back-to-back Academy Award Best Picture winners Million Dollar Baby (2005) and Crash (2006).
- Lived with New York City Port Authority police officer Will Jimeno and his family before playing Jimeno in the film World Trade Center (2006).
- Was at the scene of a Los Angeles gang shooting with Jake Gyllenhaal in 2011. The two were riding along with LAPD officers to prep for their roles in End of Watch.
Facebook
Instagram
RSS