Born in 1976 and raised on the south side of Chicago, IL, Pena’s parents were farmers before they moved to the city to pursue factory jobs, but the agrarian spirit never left them; To the bewilderment of their city friends, Pena fondly remembered his father tending to a garden in the backyard, where the family grew corn, tomatoes and onions. Because their working class neighborhood held its share of danger, Pena was cautioned by his parents to stay indoors often when he was young, leaving he and his brother to watch a lot of television. When they couldn’t watch the tube, they made up their own TV shows – a sign of the future actor’s creative juices flowing.

Despite his blue-collar roots, Pena attended a prep school, Hubbard High School, and enjoyed playing sports and skateboarding around his neighborhood. At age 17, he was working as a bank teller when a family friend encouraged him to try out for a local acting audition for the Peter Bogdanovich film, “To Sir, With Love II” (1996), a made for TV sequel to the original 1967 film, with Sidney Poitier reprising his role. Reluctant at first, in part because he was enjoying the money he was making, Pena eventually relented and tried out – although he didn’t get the lead role after seven tries, he eventually scored a small part and was hooked.

From that point on, a slew of bit parts followed. He appeared in small roles in episodes of “Pacific Blue,” (USA Network, 1996-2000), “Touched by an Angel” (CBS, 1994-2003), “7th Heaven” (UPN, 1996- ) and “Moesha.” (UPN, 1996-2001), as well as several small independent films. In 1999, he landed his first regular role, as Brian Burke, in the series “Felicity” (The WB, 1998-2002), appearing in several second-season episodes. On the big screen, Pena appeared in the Jerry Bruckheimer action film, “Gone in Sixty Seconds” (2000), as well as the smaller, critically acclaimed flick, “Buffalo Soldiers” (2001). Back on television, he went on to appear in “The District” (CBS, 2000-04); the sci-fi series, “Roswell” (WB/UPN, 1999-2002); episodes of “ER” (NBC, 1994- ); and two episodes of “NYPD Blue (ABC, 1993-2005), as different, non-recurring characters.

In 2003, he had a role in “The United States of Leland,” his first onscreen appearance with Don Cheadle, who would become a good friend. The following year began his ascent, with the role of Omar in the Academy-Award-winning picture, “Million Dollar Baby.” His next silver screen appearance was in “Crash,” which also won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Pena’s portrayal of Daniel, the beleaguered father who inadvertently puts his family in harm’s way through his racist actions, stood out among several acclaimed performances. On television, Pena appeared as a regular in the 4th season of the gritty FX cop drama, “The Shield,” (2002-) playing Armando “Army” Renta, a semi-corrupt detective conflicted over his partnership with Shane Vendrell (Walton Goggins), a loose-cannon whose reigns have been cut by the über-corrupt Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis). On HBO, he starred in “Walkout” (2006), playing a high school teacher who inspires his Mexican-American students to stand up for their rights.

Creating a lot of buzz in a short period of time, Pena was poised to capture widespread attention again with “World Trade Center” – Oliver Stone’s tribute to Sept. 11th NYC first responders. As Officer Will Jimeno, a NYC cop trapped in the rubble after the collapse, Pena drew raves for his sensitive family man portrayal. After making a brief appearance as a border patrol agent in Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s murky ensemble drama “Babel” (2006), Pena costarred in “Shooter” (2007), playing an inexperienced FBI agent helping an expert sniper (Mark Wahlberg) allude capture after he was framed for the assassination of the President of the United States.