She also voiced Rosa Santos in the animated television series Maya & Miguel and Mirage in The Incredibles.

[4] In 1979, Peña made her film debut in El Super, a "moving and melancholy comedy about a family of lower middle class Cuban refugees attempting to adjust to life in Spanish Harlem".

[3] She also starred in John Sayles's produced critically acclaimed but short-lived television series Shannon's Deal (1989–1991).

Peña appeared in films such as Nothing like the Holidays, La Bamba, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Jacob's Ladder, *batteries not included, Blue Steel, 1997's Gridlock'd as ER Admissions Person (under the name Elizabeth Anne Dickinson), Vibes, and Rush Hour.

In 1996, Sayles wrote and directed the mystery film Lone Star and again cast Peña in a co-starring role, for which she won the 1996 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Bravo Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film from the National Council of La Raza.

[4] Peña died on October 14, 2014, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 55.