Michael Pena

Birth Name: Michael Anthony Pena

Nickname/Stage Name: Michael Pena

Birth Date: January 13, 1976

Genres: Action, Comedy, Drama, Sci-fi

Occupation: Actor

Years Active:1994 till Present 

Net Worth: $12 million

 

Personal life

Michael Pena was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of social worker Nicolasa and factory worker Eleuterio Pena. Pena's parents were farmers who immigrated from Mexico.

He has been a Scientology member since 2000. He and Brie Shaffer got married in 2006 and they have a son, Roman, who was born in 2008.

Education

He attended Marist High School and was a student at St. Nicholas of Tolentine, a Scientology Elementary School.

Career

Pena featured regularly in independent productions since 1994 and his breakthrough performances came in the two Best Picture Oscar-winning films, Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Crash (2006).

He was cast in the award-winning series The Shield the following year. In 2006, he starred in World Trade Center, Oliver Stone's film about the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The actor also appeared in a minor role in Alejandro González Inárritu's film Babel. Pena was announced as joining the cast of Narcos for the upcoming fourth season in December 2017. Later, it was revealed that the fourth season would be a new series called Narcos: Mexico, starring Pea as DEA agent Kiki Camarena.

Pena co-starred with Jake Gyllenhaal in the action drama End of Watch (2012) and was among the ensemble cast of the World War II film Fury (2014).

He played the character of Luis in Ant-Man (2015), reprising the role in the sequel. He also starred alongside Chris Hemsworth in the action movie 12 Strong (2018).

Awards

ALMA Award (2006, 2007)

Screen Actors Guild Award (2014)

Quotes

"I think writing is the most underrated thing in Hollywood."

"I want to do more sci-fi films. I want to play half-alien, half-illegal alien."

"A good comic explores the imagination, but it's always got to have those notes of truth running through it."

"It's so interesting to watch Ben Stiller work because he just knows what's funny."

Trivia

One of the first jobs he got was working in a bank.

Has worked with four directors who have an Oscar each for Best Director; Clint Eastwood, Oliver Stone, Alejandro Innaritu, and Robert Redford.

Is Mexican-American.

Movies

My Fellow Americans (1996)

Boogie Boy (1998)

Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)

Crash (2004)

Babel (2006)

Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

Turbo (2012)

The Vatican Tapes (2015)

The Martian (2015)

The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)

A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019)

Fantasy Island (2020)

Tom & Jerry (2021)