María del Pilar Peña Sánchez (her real name; she took the artistic name of Candela reportedly upon joining the theatre school), was born on 14 July 1973 in Gavà, province of Barcelona, daughter to a mother from Murcia and a father from Lora del Río who had a bar in Barcelona.
When she was four years old she started to learn dance in the city and after finishing high-school she went to Seville to begin theatre classes there and eventually in Madrid.
She made her first television appearance in the TV3 show Sputnik [ca], making her film debut with a performance in the 1994 thriller Running Out of Time, which earned her two Goya Award nominations (New Actress and Supporting Actress).

Return to Candela Peña Autograph Profile