Michael Peña is an American actor best known for his supporting roles. He appeared on screens in the mid-90s and is filmed every year more actively, choosing notable projects.
Early years of Michael Peña
Michael Antony Peña was born in Chicago on January 13, 1976. His mother, Nicholas, worked in the social sphere, and his father, Eleuterio, was a factory worker. The family of the future actor immigrated to the United States from Mexico. Several generations of the Peña family were engaged in agriculture in their historical homeland.
After graduating from high school, Michael decided to pursue an acting career, which worried his parents a little: they wanted a more “down-to-earth” and reliable profession for their son. However, his loved ones always supported him and therefore did not try to dissuade him from plans to conquer Hollywood.
After graduating from high school, Michael entered the Hubbard High School of Scientology. In his youth, he often changed jobs and worked for some time in a bank. In his free time, he was engaged in skateboarding, dreamed of becoming an actor, and actively attended various castings. In 1994, Peña made his debut with a small role in the movie Free Hunter. Then he appeared in the series “Slaughter Department”, “NYPD”, “My Dear Americans”, “Touched by an Angel” and in the rather popular films “Gone in 60 Seconds”, “Buffalo Soldiers” and “United States of Leland”.
Peña became best known in 2004 after the release of the screenwriter Paul Haggis’s “Million Dollar Baby” and “Collision”, which had widespread success and were awarded Oscars. During the same period, the actor played in the popular TV series “The Shield”. In 2006, he starred in Oliver Stone’s blockbuster “Twin Towers”, dedicated to the events of September 11, 2001, and also appeared in the film “Babylon”, nominated for “Oscar” and “Golden Globe”. In subsequent years, Peña starred in the films The Shooter, Kinda Tough Guard, Alien Invasion: The Battle of Los Angeles, and In 30 Minutes. Among the last of his acting jobs followed by key roles in the films “How to Steal a Skyscraper” and “Patrol”.
Michael played bass in his band, Nico Vega, along with Rich Kohler and Aje Volkman. In 2007, he left the project to focus on a professional career. Peña is married to actress Bree Schaffer, and the couple had a son in the fall of 2008. In his spare time, the actor enjoys boxing and playing golf.
The career of Michael Peña
The debut film for Michael was the drama “Free Hunter” (1994). In subsequent years, he starred in a lot of auteur and independent films. Peña also appeared regularly on television, receiving small roles: his characters rarely lasted longer than one episode in the plot. For example, it was so in the TV series “Ambulance” (2002), where George Clooney shone.
The first truly successful project for Peña was the action movie Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), with Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie in the foreground. Starting in 2004, Peña’s career took off. He starred in the Oscar-winning Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby and Steven Soderbergh’s Crash, which dramatically increased his popularity in Hollywood and audience recognition. The series “The Shield” (2005) and the television film “Strike” (2006) with his participation were also notable.
Now Michael increasingly appeared surrounded by stars of the first magnitude, and he received more screen time. Babylon (2006), Twin Towers (2006), Shooter (2007), Lions for the Lambs (2007), Kinda Tough Guard (2009), Patrol (2012), and Scam American Style ”(2013) – are the most famous films with the participation of Michael Peña.
In 2013, he voiced one of the characters in the animated film Turbo. Michael continued his dubbing work sometime later with “My Little Pony Movie” (2017) and “LEGO Ninjago Movie” (2017). He returned to television screens in the miniseries Grays Point (2014). It was followed by the war drama Rage (2014) with Brad Pitt, the fantastic Martian (2015) by Ridley Scott, the super-Trooper Ant-Man (2015) from Marvel, as well as the black comedy War Against All (2016) where Peña and Alexander Skarsgard played daring detectives.
Personal life of Michael Peña
Michael and his sweetheart Bree Schaffer got married in 2006. A year later, they became parents and their son was named Roman. The spouse is an adherent of the Scientology Church. The family lives in Los Angeles.
One of the most significant hobbies of an actor is music. He even played for a while in a band named after his mother. Michael loves to sing and play bass.
Sport is no less valuable for Peña: he plays golf and goes to the gym to box. Michael also attends status professional fights, but at the moment he is not a fan of any boxer personally.
Michael Peña now
The actor continues to combine work in independent films and filming in larger projects. Several years ago, he took part in a promotional tour to coincide with the release of the Marvel superhero film Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), where he starred opposite Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly.
Also in 2018, the actor appeared in the fantastic films A Wrinkle in Time and Extinction, as well as in the military drama Cavalry. In his busy filming and family schedule, Peña says he wants to make time for writing. So far, the central genre for Michael is short stories. Perhaps later he will be able to repeat the success of other artists in literature, becoming a primary writer, such as Stephen Fry.
