Francia Raisa

Francia Raisa Almendarez (born July 26, 1988[1][2]) is an American actress.[3] Raisa is known for her roles in Bring It On: All or Nothing, The Secret Life of the American Teenager,[4] and Grown-ish.

Francia Raisa
Raisa in 2018
Born
Francia Raisa Almendarez

(1988-07-26) July 26, 1988
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active2004–present
Parent(s)

Early life and education

Raisa was born and raised in Los Angeles, California to a Mexican mother, Virginia Almendárez (née Pelayo) and Renán Almendárez Coello, a Honduran-born radio personality.[4][5][6] A few years after Raisa was born, her father started using his new Latin radio personality, "El Cucuy".[4]

Raisa attended Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills, California, where she was a cheerleader.[7]

Career

Raisa began to take acting jobs in her junior year of high school, modeling for print ads and appearing in commercials. She guest-starred in the sitcoms American Family: Journey of Dreams and Over There. Raisa appeared in Lil' Romeo's music video "My Girlfriend" as Tamy in 2004 and in Iyaz's music video "So Big". A month into her senior year, she booked one of her first lead roles, starring opposite Hayden Panettiere in Bring It On: All or Nothing. She co-starred in the Nickelodeon movie Shredderman Rules, where she portrayed Isabel, and in The Cutting Edge: Chasing the Dream and The Cutting Edge: Fire and Ice as Alexandra Delgado. She played the role of Adrian Lee in the hit ABC Family drama, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, from its beginning in July 2008, until the series finale in early June 2013.

Raisa in February 2008

In 2009, Raisa guest-starred on the USA Network's TV series In Plain Sight and co-starred in a short film directed by David Henrie called Boo, which aired on YouTube. Raisa appeared in a music video for pop duo Savvy & Mandy and guest starred in the second season of Degrassi: The Next Generation. In 2013, Raisa starred in the Christmas-themed movie Christmas Bounty alongside Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.

Raisa in August 2012

Since early 2018, Raisa has starred in the Freeform show, Grown-ish, executive produced by Black-ish creator Kenya Barris.[8][9] She starred in Freeform's 2018 television film, Life-Size 2, opposite Tyra Banks.[10]

Personal life

Raisa was born in Los Angeles.[11]

In the summer of 2017, Raisa donated one of her kidneys to her friend, singer and actress Selena Gomez, who has lupus.[12][13][14]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Bring It On: All or Nothing Leti Direct-to-video; credited as Francia Almendarez
2009 Fired Up! Marly
2010 Bulletface Maria
2013 Chastity Bites Katharine
2018 Beyond Paradise Shahrzad

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2005 Over There Sawa Episode: "The Prisoner"
2007 Shredderman Rules Isabel Lopez Television film
2008 The Cutting Edge: Chasing the Dream Alexandra "Alex" Delgado Television film
2008–2013 The Secret Life of the American Teenager Adrian Lee Main role
2009 In Plain Sight Olivia Moreno / Olivia Morales Episode: "Jailbait"
2010 The Cutting Edge: Fire and Ice Alexandra "Alex" Delgado Television film
2012 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Erin Vickler Episode: "Trends with Benefits"
2013 Company Town Grace Television film
2013 Massholes Francia Raisa Episode: "Catfish and Coldcuts"
2013 The Mindy Project Katie Episode: "Frat Party"
2013 Christmas Bounty Tory Bell Television film
2013 A Snow Globe Christmas Penny Television film
2016 The Wrong Car Gretchen Television film
2016 Hit the Floor Rennae Episodes: "Carrying", "Killer Crossover"
2017 Dear White People Vanessa Episodes: "Chapter VI", "Chapter X"
2017 Tiny House of Terror Sam Television film
2017 Once Upon a Date Izzy Flores Television film
2018 Black-ish Ana episode: "Don't You Be My Neighbor"
2018–present Grown-ish Ana Torres Main role[9]
2018 Life-Size 2 Grace Manning Television film[15]

Music videos
Year Title Artist(s)
2010 "So Big" Iyaz[16]
2013 "Everybody Knows" Dustin Tavella[17]
2015 "Gibberish" (feat. Hoodie Allen) MAX[18][19]
2020 "Man" JoJo

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated Work Result Refs
2011 ALMA Awards Favorite TV Actress: Leading Role in a Drama The Secret Life of the American Teenager Nominated
2011 Gracie Allen Awards Outstanding Female Rising Star in a Drama Series or Special The Secret Life of the American Teenager Won
2012 Teen Choice Awards Choice Scene Stealer: Female The Secret Life of the American Teenager Nominated
2012 Imagen Awards Best Young Actress in a Television Series The Secret Life of the American Teenager Nominated
2016 Imagen Awards Best Actress - Feature Film Beyond Paradise Nominated
2018 Imagen Awards Best Supporting Actress - Television Grown-ish Nominated

References
  1. Raisa, Francia (July 26, 2017). "Francia Raisa Official Twitter". Retrieved March 21, 2019 – via Twitter.
  2. "Francia Raisa Almendarez". California Birth Index – via FamilySearch.org.
  3. Rodriguez, Priscilla (November 26, 2013). "Exclusive: Francia Raisa Talks 'Christmas Bounty' & BFF Selena Gomez!". Latina.
  4. Hernández, Lee (January 27, 2009). "Francia Raisa, mean girl of 'The Secret Life of the American Teenager'". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  5. Hernandez, Lee (June 11, 2012). "'The Secret Life Of The American Teenager:' Our 15 Favorite Francia Raisa Scenes (VIDEO)". Huffington Post.
  6. Moniuszko, Sara M. (September 14, 2017). "Who is Francia Raisa? 5 things to know about Selena Gomez's kidney donor". USA Today.
  7. Geragotelis, Brittany (June 2011). "Francia Raisa's (Not So) Secret Life". American Cheerleader. Archived from the original on August 15, 2011.
  8. Petski, Denise (August 30, 2017). "'Grown-ish': 'Black-ish' Spinoff Adds Francia Raisa & Jordan Buhat As Regulars, Chloe x Halle To Recur". Deadline Hollywood.
  9. Agard, Chancellor (August 30, 2017). "'Grown-ish': Francia Raisa, Jordan Buhat Join 'Black-ish' Spin-Off". Entertainment Weekly.
  10. Petski, Denise (July 9, 2018). "Francia Raisa To Co-Star Opposite Tyra Banks In 'Life Size 2' On Freeform". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  11. "Who is Francia Raisa? 5 things about the 'Grown-ish' actress you've probably seen before". USA TODAY. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  12. France, Lisa Respers (September 15, 2017). "Selena Gomez's best friend gave her a kidney". CNN.
  13. Kim, Eun Kyung (October 31, 2017). "Selena Gomez: Kidney transplant 'defined everything that I am right now'". The Today Show.
  14. "Francia Raisa Talks Recovery After Selena Gomez Kidney Donation". Us Weekly. February 17, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  15. Nolfi, Joey (July 9, 2018). "Tyra Banks reveals Francia Raisa as her costar, more Life-Size 2 plot details". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  16. Iyaz (August 11, 2010). "So Big [Official Music Video] - Iyaz".
  17. Yaranon, Charisma (July 15, 2013). "Dustin Tavella Releases "Everybody Knows" Video Featuring Danny Trejo and Marielle Jaffe with Appearances from Selena Gomez, Francia Raisa, Samantha Droke and Baby Bash". Cision PRWeb. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  18. Raisa, Fancia (March 22, 2015). "Had so much fun working with these guys for @maxgschneider new video "gibberish" which will be dropping tomorrow! Thanks for having me be a part of it @maxgschneider and @laurajquinn excited for you guys to see it". FranciaRaisa. Instagram.
  19. Max (March 23, 2015). "Max - Gibberish (feat. Hoodie Allen) [Official Music Video - YTMAs]".
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