Out of the Woods

After high school, Michael Peña was waiting on his application to the undergraduate business program at Northwestern University in his native Chicago when, like a mudball, things suddenly veered in a different direction. His path had seemed clear: The bank Peña was working for wanted to put him through school. Peña had always been good at math, with a real love for numbers.

And so things might have been, had fate not intervened in the form of a friend who said, “You’re good at imitating – why not try acting?”

Peña had gotten his start in mimicry at prep school. “I was the poor kid there, and I’d imitate the teachers for 25 cents,” he recalled. “Soon enough, by lunchtime I’d be able to order a turkey sandwich.” Not much of a professional resume, admittedly, but Peña decided to go to an open audition for a Sidney Poitier movie, “To Sir, with Love II.”

“I went to that call, and it changed my life,” said Peña, 45. “I didn’t get the part, but they stuck me in as a featured extra. The producer singled me out and said, ‘You should do this for a living.’ That’s all I needed to hear. I thought, ‘Why not? Let’s take a chance.’ I went to Hollywood, and here we are.”

Well, not so fast. That’s how he got his start on his acting career, a remarkable journey that has seen him feature in five Academy Award Best Picture nominees: “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), “Crash” (2005), “Babel” (2006), “American Hustle” (2013), and “The Martian” (2015); and work for renowned directors such as Oliver Stone, Clint Eastwood, Alejandro Iñárritu and Robert Redford. Big screen, small screen, Peña has been in everything from “American Dad!” to “American Family,” from “Ant-Man & the Wasp” to “Dora and the Lost City of Gold.” High drama, action movies, family fare: Peña is like the golfer who makes the top 10 seemingly every single week, no matter what kind of course is hosting.

Speaking of which, the plot twist: Golf ranks high among the gifts an acting career has given him.

Q: Who introduced you to golf?

I was introduced to it by Jack Lemmon and James Garner when I did my first movie, “My Fellow Americans.” I have to be honest – I didn’t know who these guys were at the time. I’d just started acting. Jack Lemmon was like (imitating), “No, no, you gotta release the hands.” They kept doing it every day, and I was like, “What is going on with this golf thing?” I grew up playing football, wrestling, track, all that stuff, but nothing was as technical as this game.

Q: What got you hooked?

That was also when Tiger Woods burst onto the scene. I saw his 1997 Masters win and thought, this is different. He looked like an athlete. There was a mystique around him. ESPN was suddenly flooded with golf highlights. Then later, I was at a driving range in North Carolina and the guy running it said, “You see that VW Bug out there? Try to hit it.” It took me seven buckets to do it. I was hooked.

Q: The challenge grabbed you.

For me, it’s more the perseverance than the intensity of something. It’s the steps. Are you able to stay with something and figure it out for yourself? Some guys go to the biggest-name golf coaches. But unless it’s real for you, and you have your own discovery about what they’re telling you, that won’t stick. In a way, that mirrors acting, where you have to find your own way. You need to keep at it until you make that discovery.

Q: How often do you play?

At the start of the pandemic, it was a lifesaver. My wife kept telling me, “You should go play golf.” If it was up to me, I’d be playing three to four times a week… so right now I play three to four times a week!

Q: Any memorable, Academy Award-worthy golf experiences?

The hole-in-one I had at the Bob Hope about 13 years ago. I made ESPN’s “Top 10 Plays of the Day.” Me, an actor!

Q: You attended the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. When you watch the world’s best players, what do you notice? What do you admire most?

It’s almost like they’re magicians. It’s the touch, the power, the efficiency, the sequencing… it’s like they were born to play golf. Sure, everyone knows they’re good, but they’re just so much better than even the scratch player at your club. And when they want to hit it harder, they hit it harder. When we amateurs do that, you never know what’s going to happen.

Q: You’ve had comedic, dramatic and action roles – do you prepare the same way for each?

I think that’s where golf and acting go hand in hand. What story am I telling? It’s like golf. Is it a links course? A desert course? Do you need to hit your approach high? Low? How do you see this shot? In movies, it’s “What’s the genre?” “How do I see myself in it?” I like to view it more as a director or a writer than as an actor. How can my character fit in, and how can I make it better? You want to tell the story as best you can.

Q: Now that you’re at a point where you can choose the projects you work on, how do you decide what to do and what not to do?

At the end of the day, it’s always about the story. Always. Then you reverse-engineer it. Can this team tell that story? Is it something they’re good at? I’m doing a movie with Owen Wilson next called “Secret Headquarters.” I read the script – I can’t share details – but I showed my kid and he’s like, “Dad, are you gonna do this movie?!?” And I was like, “Now I have to.” He was so excited, and you want to do stuff for your kids. I started out doing dark dramas, like “Crash.” Those are still my favorites because you have to do a lot of research. It’s almost like you’re discovering something that’s not on the page. To me that’s a lot of fun.

Q: What’s your best advice for aspiring actors?

I tell them something that I think applies in every aspect of life: Really love the game, and the challenges. You see it in golf. Some guys lose their love for the game. You have to get inspired and stay inspired. Inspiration is a funny thing... you have to work at it.

Q: When you’re not working or playing golf, what do you most like to do?
Watch golf. (Laughs.) I’m a sports guy, I love watching any type of sport. I could be in England or Germany watching soccer, or in Canada watching curling.