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 (2018). Peña had the title role in Cesar Chavez (2014), played DEA agent Kiki Camarena in season one of the Netflix series Narcos: Mexico (2018), and CIA agent Domingo Chavez in season 4 of the Prime Video series Jack Ryan (2023). He also starred in A Million Miles Away (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, the son of Nicolasa, a social worker, and Eleuterio Peña, a factory worker. Peña stated in an interview with Mario Lopez that both his parents attained green cards after he was born and after crossing the border multiple times. Peña's parents were originally farmers, and emigrated from Mexico; his father was from Villa Purificación, Jalisco, and his mother was from Charcas, San Luis Potosí. He grew up in the North Lawndale area of Chicago, 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-winning Paul Haggis-penned films, Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Crash (2004). The former was directed by Clint Eastwood, 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-winning series The Shield. He starred in Oliver Stone's film based on the September 11, 2001 attacks, World Trade Center. He also had a small role in Alejandro González Iñárritu's film Babel. This gives him the rare distinction of having appeared in three consecutive films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
In 1999, Peña starred as Oscar in Bellyfruit, an independent film about teen-pregnancy co-written and directed by Kerri Green. In 2006, Peña starred in the HBO film Walkout as Sal Castro, a Mexican-American high school teacher who inspires a group of East L.A. high school students to fight for Chicano rights.
He starred alongside Mark Wahlberg in Shooter (2007) as novice FBI agent Nick Memphis. In 2009, he played a mall security guard alongside Seth Rogen 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, a biopic about the life of American labor leader César Chávez, who founded the United Farm Workers. Peña stars as Chávez.McNary, Dave. "Participant Marches With 'Chavez'." Variety. June 5, 2012. He appeared alongside Brad Pitt, 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 sci-film The Martian. Peña starred in 12 Strong alongside Chris Hemsworth. He also starred in the 2018 remake of A Wrinkle in Time, 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.
Voice acting Peña voiced the character Ricky in the FX animated comedy Chozen. In Turbo, he voiced Tito. He also provided vocals for the character Marguerite (in the episode "Hot Water") for the popular animated series American Dad!.
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 since 2000.
In 2006, he married Brie Shaffer. They have one son, born in 2008.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 1996 My Fellow Americans Ernesto 1997 Star Maps Star Map Boy1998 Boogie Boy Drug Dealer La Cucaracha Orderly 1999 Bellyfruit Oscar 2000 Gone in 60 Seconds Ignacio Credited as Michael A. Peña 2001 Buffalo Soldiers Garcia2003 The United States of Leland Guillermo Love Object Ramirez2004 The Calcium Kid Jose Mendez Crash Daniel ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion PictureNominated – Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast Million Dollar Baby Omar2005 Little Athens Carlos Sueño Jimmy2006 Fifty Pills Eduardo Babel John - Border Patrol World Trade Center Will Jimeno Nominated – ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor - Motion Picture2007 Shooter Nick Memphis Lions for Lambs Ernest 2008 The Lucky Ones T.K. Poole2009 Observe and Report Dennis My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? Detective Vargas 2010 Everything Must Go Frank Garcia2011 Battle: Los Angeles Joe Rincon Nominated – ALMA Award for Favorite Movie Actor The Lincoln Lawyer Jesus Martinez The Good Doctor Jimmy 30 Minutes or Less Chango Tower Heist Enrique Dev'reaux 2012 End of Watch Officer Zavala Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting MaleNominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Latino Actor2013 Gangster Squad Navidad Ramirez Turbo Tito Lopez (voice) American Hustle Paco Hernandez/Sheik Abdullah New York Film Critics Online Award for Best EnsembleCritics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting EnsembleScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureCentral Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble2014 Cesar Chavez César Chávez ALMA Award for Special Achievement in FilmImagen Award for Best Actor in Feature Film Frontera Miguel Fury Trini 'Gordo' Garcia2015 Ant-Man Luis The Vatican Tapes Father Lozano Vacation New Mexico Cop The Martian Major Rick Martinez Hell and Back Abigor (voice)2016 War on Everyone Bob Bolano Collateral Beauty Simon Stone2017 CHiPs Frank "Ponch" Poncherello / FBI Agent Castillo Also executive producer The Lego Ninjago Movie Kai (voice) My Little Pony: The Movie Grubber (voice) Zane's Stand Up Promo Kai (voice) Short film2018 12 Strong Sergeant First Class Sam Diller A Wrinkle in Time Red Ant-Man and the Wasp Luis Extinction Peter Next Gen Momo (voice) The Mule Trevino 2019 Dora and the Lost City of Gold Cole Marquez Jexi Kai 2020 Fantasy Island Mr. Julian Roarke 2021 Tom & Jerry Terence Mendoza2022 Moonfall Tom Lopez Secret Headquarters Ansel Argon 2023 A Million Miles Away José M. Hernández 2024 Unstoppable Bobby Williams Jennifer Lopez & Jharrel Jerome Pic 'Unstoppable' From Artists Equity Returns To Filming Next Week; Don Cheadle, Michael Peña & Bobby Cannavale Join Cast As Amazon MGM Boards 2025 A Working Man Joe Garcia Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die Mark Post-production Post-production Post-production
Television Year Title Role Notes 1996 Pacific Blue Rabbit Episode: "Bangers" 1997 Touched by an Angel Reynaldo Estes Episode: "At Risk"1998 Homicide: Life on the Street Luis Carrenza 2 episodesCredited as Michael Anthony Pena Johnny Episode: "Night Shift"Credited as Michael A. Pena 7th Heaven Roger Episode: "Let's Talk About Sex"Credited as Michael A. Pena1999 Tracey Takes On... Busboy Episode: "Scandal" Moesha Alejandro Episode: "Life Imitating Art" Profiler Alex Lopez Episode: "Spree of Love"Credited as Michael Anthony Peña 1999–2000 Felicity Brian Burke 5 episodes 2000 The District Sante Episode: "The Real Terrorist"2001 Roswell Fly 2 episodes Men, Women & Dogs Miguel 2 episodes2002 American Family 2 episodes Andy Richter Controls the Universe Patrick Episode: "Wedding"2003 The Twilight Zone Noah Episode: "Sunrise"Credited as Michael A. Peña ER Police Officer 3 episodes 1997, 2004 NYPD Blue FerdWilmer Lopez 2 episodes2005 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Juanito Concha Episode: "Snakes" Detective Armando Renta 10 episodes 2006 Walkout Sal Castro Television filmBlack Reel Award for Network/Cable - Best Supporting ActorImagen Award for Best Actor - TelevisionNominated – ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor - Television Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie 2008 My Name Is Earl Circus Episode: "No Heads and a Duffle Bag" 2010 Eastbound & Down Sebastián Cisneros 5 episodes 2011, 2013 American Dad! Marguerite (voice) 2 episodes2014 Chozen Ricky (voice) 10 episodes Gracepoint Mark Solano 10 episodes 2018 Narcos: Mexico Kiki Camarena Main cast; 10 episodes (Season 1) 2023 Jack Ryan Domingo "Ding" Chavez Main cast (Season 4) 2024 Landman Armando Medina Episode: "Landman" 2025 All Her Fault Detective Jim Alcaras Main Cast
Video games Year Title Role Notes 2016 Lego Marvel's Avengers Luis Ant-Man downloadable pack
References
External links
Q&A Sessions: Michael Peña Lions for Lambs interview