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Michael Pena

Michael Pena has distinguished himself in Hollywood as an actor with a wide range of performances who has worked with an impressive roster of award-winning directors. Peña earned notable recognition for his performance in Paul Haggis' provocative Oscar-winning film Crash, alongside Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon and Terrence Howard. The film is critically acclaimed for the interpretation of complex race relations in contemporary America.

Peña has worked on a range of films in the past year, including Sony's epic alien invasion film, Battle: Los Angeles, directed by Jonathon Leibesman and starring alongside Aaron Eckhart and Bridget Moynahan. He also recently shot the independent film Everything Must Go alongside Will Ferrell and Rebecca Hall.

Furthermore, Peña will appear in Season Two of HBO's East Bound and Down, starring Danny McBride. McBride and Peña have teamed up again and just finished shooting the independent feature 30 Minutes or Less, also with Jesse Eisenberg and directed by Rueben Fleischer.

Peña's film credits include The Lucky Ones, co-starring Rachel McAdams and Tim Robbins; Jody Hill's comedy Observe and Report with Seth Rogen; Robert Redford's political drama Lions for Lambs, along with Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep; and Werner Herzog and David Lynch's psychological thriller My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done with Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe and Chloe Sevigny.

Peña's other noteworthy credits consist of Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, which chronicled the heroism of American servicemen in the direct aftermath of the September 11th attacks, Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, Matthew Ryan Hoge's The United States of Leland, Gregor Jordan's Buffalo Soldiers, Antoine Fuqua's Shooter and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel.

On television, Peña also starred in the HBO film Walkout. Based on the true story of a young Mexican American high school teacher who helped stage a massive student walkout in the mid 1960s, Peña received an Image Award for Best Actor in the television category for his performance. He also guest appeared on the F/X drama The Shield for its fourth season as one of the central leads opposite Glenn Close and Anthony Anderson. Other television credits include Steven Spielberg's NBC series Semper Fi.

Raised in Chicago, Peña began acting when he beat out hundreds of others in an open call for a role in Peter Bogdonovich's To Sir, With Love 2, starring Sidney Poitier.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2011.
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Michael Pena Facts

 Michael Peña
OccupationActor
BirthdayJanuary 13, 1976 (48)
SignCapricorn
BirthplaceChicago, Illinois, USA
Height5' 7" (1m70)  How tall is Michael Pena compared to you?

Selected Filmography

Collateral Beauty
Ant-Man
The Martian
War on Everyone
Fury
The Vatican Tapes
Turbo
American Hustle
Continue » Find more details on the Michael Pena Movies page