The Diego Luna-directed biographical drama “Cesar Chavez” is in theaters now, and the film's cast is glad to bring the titular leader's story to a new generation of filmgoers.
In the film, Pena plays the famed Latino labor activist, who fought against poor working conditions, racism and violence on his way to founding the labor union the United Farm Workers.
HitFix caught up with Pena and co-stars America Ferrera and Gabriel Mann to discuss why the story struck a chord with the actors.
Pena talks about his parents' struggles with fair pay, and his own early experiences working two jobs as a teenager, while the California-raised Ferrera expresses her surprise that more people were unaware of Chavez's accomplishments.
Mann notes that he tried to avoid mustache-twirling cliches in his antagonistic role in the film, and that he saw “Chavez” as a “story whose time had come.”
Watch the complete interview above.
The film also stars Rosario Dawson, Yancey Arias, Wes Bentley and John Malkovich.
“Cesar Chavez” is now in theaters.