He co-starred as Quintus in Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000), the Dreamworks-Universal movie and winner of five Oscars, including Best Picture, co-starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi, and Oliver Reed. Three of Tomas Arana's more recent films are: La volpe a tre zampe (2005), directed by Sandro Dionisio, a Teatri Uniti (Angelo Curti)/Cattelya Production that co-stars Miranda Otto, Angela Luce, and Nadja Uhl; Outpatient (2002), directed by Alec Carlin, with Justin Kirk and Catherine Kellner and the Jean-Claude Van Damme action film, Derailed (2002), directed by Bob Misiorowski. He was in Chimera (2001), directed by Pappi Corsicato, with Iaia Forte and Tommaso Ragno. He has appeared in more than 40 films, ranging from large budget Hollywood Studio pictures to Independent films in both the U.S. and Europe. His studio pictures include L.A. Confidential (1997) (as Bruening, a rogue cop), The Bodyguard (1992) (as Portman, Kevin Costner's antagonist and Whitney Houston's assassin), The Hunt for Red October (1990) (as Loginov, the Russian Saboteur), Tombstone (1993), and First Kid (1996).

He played Lazarus in Martin Scorsese's controversial The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). He was also featured in the Sundance-developed Wildflowers (1999), an independent film by Melissa Painter starring Clea DuVall and Daryl Hannah. Arana has played leading and supporting roles in over 30 European productions including films by directors such as Lina Wertmüller, Liliana Cavani, Carlo Verdone, Michele Soavi and with one of Japan's most successful directors: Koreyoshi Kurahara in the Toho production See You (1988). In theatre, Arana was the producer as well as a leading actor in the internationally acclaimed Theatre Company Falso Movimento, based in Naples, Italy. Under Arana and the artistic director Mario Martone (now a major Italian Film Director), Falso Movimento won many awards including Best Play of the Year, Best Set Design and the prestigious Mondello Prize. The company toured worldwide for more than nine years at major International Festivals including London, Frankfurt, New York, Los Angeles, Madrid, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Jerusalem, and others. Tomas Arana grew up in San Francisco and studied classical theatre at its prestigious American Conservatory Theatre, afterwards relocating to New York and acting in off-Broadway productions. He then hitchhiked throughout Europe and ended up living in Naples, Italy, where he worked in the Lucio Amelio Art Gallery, working with such artists as Warhol, Rauschenberg, Beuys, Richter, Longobardi, Clemente, Gilbert & George, etc. Andy Warhol painted his portrait, which is now part of his extensive art collection. He has both U.S. and Italian citizenship. He is married and has two sons.