[3][4][5] Peña was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and raised by a single mother in Harlem in New York City in the United States.
[9] Peña took acting classes while attending the Peddie School in New Jersey, and decided to pursue a career in that field.
[10] After graduating from Peddie in 2011,[10] Peña studied drama at New York University Tisch School of the Arts and RADA.
[12][13] Peña made her debut movie appearance in the 2017 film The Post, directed by Steven Spielberg.
She plays the character of Aleida Rosales, a Mexican immigrant, portrayed in season one as a child by Olivia Trujillo.