Michael Peña

Michael Peña has distinguished himself in Hollywood as an actor with a wide range of performances and has worked with an impressive roster of award winning directors.

In 2015 he appeared in the Marvel film Ant Man. Peña was also seen in the films Everything Must Go alongside Will Ferrell and Rebecca Hall, Gangster Squad opposite Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling, and in the DreamWorks animated feature Turbo.

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 was critically acclaimed for its interpretation of complex race relations in contemporary America, and Peña garnered multiple best ensemble nominations for his role as Daniel the locksmith,' winning awards from the Screen Actors Guild and the Broadcast Film Critics Association for the cast's performance.

In 2014 he reteamed with director David Ayer for the feature Fury opposite Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf. That same year, Peña was seen as civil right and labor organizer Cesar Chavez in Chavez. The film was directed by Diego Luna and produced by Canana and Mr Mudd. In the film, Peña played Chavez, a man who embraced non-violence as he battled greed and prejudice in his struggle for the rights of farm workers.

Also in 2014, he appeared in the Fox hour mini-series Gracepoint, a remake of the UK's Broadchurch. The show centers on Detective Emmett Carver (David Tennant), the lead investigator on the case of a shocking murder of 11-year-old Danny, which puts a small town under scrutiny. Peña played Danny's father a well-liked local plumber and family man.

In 2013 he was seen in the David O'Russell film American Hustle, which won a Golden Globe, as well as ensemble awards from the Screen Actors Guild and the Broadcast Film Critics. It is was also nominated for BAFTA and Academy awards.

In 2012, Peña was seen in the critically acclaimed movie End of Watch, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. The film is about two young officers in South Central LA who are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel, during a routine traffic stop. For his role as Officer Zavala Peña was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and the film was recognized by the National Board of Review as one of the Top 10 Independent Films of the year.

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; Brett Ratner's Tower Heist and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel.

On television, Peña 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 Imagen Award for Best Actor in the television category for his performance. He re-teamed with Danny McBride on the second season of HBO's Eastbound and Down. Peña 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.

Twentieth Century Fox