Francia Raisa Almendarez (born July 26, 1988) is an American actress. Raisa is known for her roles in '' Bring It On: All or Nothing'', ''

The Secret Life of the American Teenager ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (often shortened to ''Secret Life'') is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton. It aired on ABC Family from July 1, 2008 to June 3, 2013. The series received mixed to some ...

'', and ''

Grown-ish ''Grown-ish'' (stylized as ''ish'') is an American sitcom series and a spin-off of the ABC series ''Black-ish''. The single-camera comedy follows the Johnson family's children as they go to college and begin their journeys to adulthood, only to ...

''.

Early life and education

Raisa was born and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California, to a Mexican mother, Virginia Almendárez (née Pelayo) and Renán Almendárez Coello, a Honduran-born radio personality. A few years after Raisa was born, her father started using his new Latin radio personality, "El Cucuy". Raisa attended

Bishop Alemany High School Bishop Alemany High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school located in the San Fernando Valley community of Mission Hills in Los Angeles, California. It is within the San Fernando Pastoral Region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The sc ...

in Mission Hills, California, where she was a cheerleader.

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 Percy Romeo Miller (born August 19, 1989), also known by his stage name Romeo (formerly Lil' Romeo), is an American rapper, actor, and television personality. He gained fame as a rapper in the early 2000s after signing with No Limit Records, the ...

's music video "My Girlfriend" as Tamy in 2004 and in

Iyaz Keidran Jones (born 15 April 1987), better known by his stage name Iyaz, is a British Virgin Islands singer and songwriter, formerly signed with the record label Beluga Heights Records. He is known for his singles " Replay", "Solo" and " Pretty ...

's music video "So Big". A month into her senior year, she booked one of her first lead roles, starring opposite

Hayden Panettiere Hayden Lesley Panettiere (; born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, model, and singer. She is best known for her lead roles as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' and Juliette Barnes in the Am ...

in '' Bring It On: All or Nothing''. She co-starred in the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

movie ''

Shredderman Rules ''Shredderman Rules'' is a 2007 American television teen film based on Wendelin Van Draanen's ''Shredderman'' book series. The film stars Devon Werkheiser, and was originally aired on Nickelodeon with the final episode of ''Ned's Declassified Sch ...

'', 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, ''

'', from its beginning in July 2008, until the series finale in early June 2013. In 2009, Raisa guest-starred on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

's TV series ''In Plain Sight'' and co-starred in a short film directed by

David Henrie David Clayton Henrie ( ; born July 11, 1989) is an American actor, writer, and director. He is noted for playing Ted Mosby's future son Luke on ''How I Met Your Mother'' and Justin Russo in ''Wizards of Waverly Place'', as well as starring in ...

called ''Boo'', which aired on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. In 2013, Raisa starred in the Christmas-themed movie ''Christmas Bounty'' alongside

Mike "The Miz" Mizanin Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name The Miz. Mizanin first gained fame ...

From 2018 to 2022, Raisa starred in the Freeform show, ''

,'' executive produced by ''

Black-ish ''Black-ish'' (stylized as black·''ish'', `black·''ish'', and black''ish'') is an American sitcom television series created by Kenya Barris. It aired on ABC from September 24, 2014, to April 19, 2022, running for eight seasons. ''Black-ish'' ...

'' creator

Kenya Barris Kenya Barris (born August 9, 1973) is an American film and television writer, producer, director, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the ABC sitcom ''black-ish'' (2014–2022). Early life Barris was born in Inglewood, California, th ...

. She starred in the show's first four seasons, exiting upon the character's graduation at the end of the fourth season. She also starred in Freeform's 2018 television film, ''

Life-Size 2 ''Life-Size 2'', also known as ''Life-Size 2: A Christmas Eve'', is a 2018 American fantasy-comedy television film directed by Steven Tsuchida and starring Tyra Banks and Francia Raisa. It is the sequel to ''Life-Size'' starring Banks and Lindsa ...

'', opposite

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

. In May 2021, Raisa was cast in ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...

'' spinoff series ''

How I Met Your Father ''How I Met Your Father'' is an American sitcom created by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger which premiered on Hulu on January 18, 2022. It is a spin-off of ''How I Met Your Mother''. The series, which stars Hilary Duff, Christopher Lowell, F ...

'', which premiered on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

on January 18, 2022. In February 2022, the series was renewed for a 20-episode second season.

Personal life

Raisa was born in

. In the summer of 2017, Raisa donated one of her

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

s to her friend, singer and actress

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

, who has

lupus Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Comm ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raisa, Francia 1988 births 21st-century American actresses American actresses of Mexican descent American people of Honduran descent American film actresses Actresses from Los Angeles American television actresses Living people Organ transplant donors Hispanic and Latino American actresses