Love and Sex After 40

by Gerri Miller

Come November, Peña will be seen in the ensemble cast of Humboldt Park opposite Alfred Molina, Debra Messing, Freddy Rodriguez, and John Leguizamo, who plays her son despite the fact that he’s just three years her junior.

“We thought about putting latex on my face to age me, but it was too obvious and I’m allergic to latex. So we figured, ’she could have had him when she was 16.’ He’s playing younger and I’m playing older. Women age differently now anyway,” she notes, though she admits her reps questioned her taking the role.

As Peña reminds, “In Hollywood, you’re not supposed to age.” Nevertheless, she’s gratified that there’s more work for women of all ages these days—Latin women in particular.

“The talent pool has always existed,” she notes. “The difference is, we are generating income for studios. What is really different for me is now I get these really wonderful scripts. Before they wrote for Latin people like we were two-by-fours, cardboard figures, not human. Now the projects have a chance to get greenlit.”

She hopes there will be more female-centric movies like Garcia Girls that explore real human issues people care about.