F  L  A  U  N  T

Actor Coral Peña was born in the Dominican Republic, but raised in Harlem, New York, and her ascent into the acting world has been powered by the Apple TV+ series, For All Mankind. Peña’s portrayal of an adult Aleida Rosales is an undocumented Mexican immigrant who, after years of determination, is hired at NASA as an engineer in the 1980s. The show’s third season premieres soon.

Peña’s first screen role was that of a guest role on CBS’s Blue Bloods, which tells the story of a multigenerational family of police officers, then going on to break out with her role as Mariana Stiles on the Fox Network series 24: Legacy. In the tension-taut 24 reboot, Stiles is a self-taught computer analyst. She later went on to become recognized for her role in Steven Spielberg’s 2017 film, The Post, working alongside iconic names such as Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Tracy Letts. Peña also counts roles in Chemical Hearts, The Wisdom Tooth, The Enemy Within, and The Resident to her resumé. See now a handful of questions, and hear now a handful of answers.

Where do you hope to see change in the world?

It’s difficult to articulate not only where I hope to see change, but ultimately what I need to change. I say ‘need’ because change is necessary at this point not just for my own survival, but for the survival of all exploited people—and for the survival of our planet.

If this past year or two have taught us any lessons, I hope one is this: I hope people continue to ask why and how. Why and how did we get here. Because we’re basically fucked in every way.

Listen, I can throw the word capitalism into the ring and say, ‘This is why! This is how!’ but that won’t mean anything to anyone unless they themselves are genuinely curious; people need to want to question these things.

The change I hope to see is people asking questions and questions and more questions of our very broken system. We will not see change if we don’t, as a collective, start there.

Which cartoon character, past or present, do you most relate to?

When I was a kid I was absolutely obsessed with Mulan! My mom worked at a VHS factory and brought it home one day. I remember playing it on a loop for months. But I didn’t know until I was older why I was so obsessed with Mulan. Until I came to terms with my own relationship with gender, I never realized that Mulan was the first movie I saw that taught me the fragility of gender-binaries and norms. It’s so fragile that even my kid brain kind of knew it must be a construct! Once you understand that, the fog starts to dissipate and the world seems so much clearer. I found so much comfort in Mulan. I felt seen.

What is your favorite on-camera scene you've been a part of? How come?

When I did The Post, the last scene we shot for the whole movie was a big courtroom scene that involved almost every single actor in the film. I remember being in a room with Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Tracey Letts, Carrie Coon, Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, Jesse Plemons, Zach Woods, Pat Healy, Michael Stuhlbarg. Mark Rylance was even visiting set that day—he wasn’t even in the movie! He gave me a thumbs up and a big smile during my scene with Meryl!

I remember thinking…I better not forget this moment. It continues to be a very surreal memory for me.

What about your off-camera personality do you feel is most often misunderstood?

I always play very tough people. I think because I have New York energy, and I have sort of a deep, raspy voice, people tend to cast me in those roles. But I’m really bubbly and silly and extremely sensitive. People tend to see me as a person the same way they see these characters. So they can end up being aggressive with me, and I’m like, ‘Whoa, whoa, be easy with me now! I’m gonna start crying!’

What’s one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned throughout your time of acting?

I think I entered this industry thinking, ‘I gotta be five times as good as the white girls next to me.’ And, at first, that mentality got me far. But then it got to the point where I was still getting spoken to and critiqued way harsher than my white peers. So I thought, ‘I gotta be likable, I gotta be relatable.’ But then that didn’t work either.

I finally realized that the only real answer is to not care. I’ll always be judged on a different scale, I can’t escape that. And I will waste my life trying to impress people who refuse to be impressed by me. So I no longer care. Or at least I try not to.

Which meal or food do you find the most nostalgic, and why?

When I was a kid, I lived with my grandmother and grandfather for a brief amount of time, and I loved it. I was a pretty easygoing kid, but my grandparents would eat rice and beans everyday, and, as a five year old, I got so tired of it. So on the days I was being picky, my grandmother would make me pancakes. It didn’t matter if it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I was in love with pancakes. And so, to this day, they are a big comfort food for me.

If you could soundtrack a trip to the grocery store for a stylized short film, what’s the song?

You know what song still absolutely slaps? “The Rhythm of the Night” by Corona. Slaps so damn hard. That’s my song right there. I know it’s sort of already inextricably linked to a different visual, with the iconic ending of Beau Travail, but still. That’s the song I’d pick, I’m locking in my answer.

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Photographer: Jonny Marlow
Stylist: Dani + Emma
Hair: Clayton Hawkins at A-Frame Agency
Makeup: Loren Canby at A-Frame Agency
Written by: Eloisa de Farias