This striking, stage-trained Latina first gained recognition as the maid-turned-revolutionary in Paul Mazursky's "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" (1986). Born in the US, Pena was raised in Cuba and moved back to Manhattan at the age of eight. She was acting professionally two years later and subsequently attended the famed High School of Performing Arts. Pena went on to appear in more than 20 off-Broadway shows and toured for two years as Shakespeare's Juliet. She has worked with such renowned theater companies as Joseph Papp's Public Theater, La Mama, and San Francisco's American Conservatory