Michael Peña

'Michael Peña' (qv) was born and raised in Chicago, to Nicolasa, a social worker, and Eleuterio Peña, who worked at a button factory. His parents were originally from Mexico. After graduating from high school, he went to an open casting call for the 'Peter Bogdanovich' (qv) feature _To Sir, with Love II (1996)_ (qv), and to his surprise, beat out hundreds of other young men for a role. After relocating to Los Angeles Peña quickly booked a succession of roles in features including Star Maps, _My Fellow Americans (1996)_ (qv) (opposite 'Jack Lemmon' (qv) and 'James Garner' (qv)), _La Cucaracha (1998)_ (qv) (winner of the Best Picture in the Austin Film Festival), _Bellyfruit (1999)_ (qv), and the Disney/'Jerry Bruckheimer' (qv) feature _Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)_ (qv). Michael resides in Los Angeles, where he plays bass guitar with his band, plays golf, and boxes for relaxation.::ropeofsilicon.com