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 som ...

'', 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 List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, 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 " Prett ...

'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'' and Juliette Barnes in the ABC/ CMT musical drama serie ...

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

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

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 sharing and 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 Google, and is the second mo ...

. In 2013, Raisa starred in the Christmas-themed movie ''Christmas Bounty'' alongside Mike "The Miz" Mizanin. Francia Raisa 2, 2012

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, ...

. 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'' 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 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; blo ...

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.

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