Francia Raisa

Francia Raisa Almendárez (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, Grown-ish, A few years after she was born, her father started using his new Latin radio personality, "El Cucuy".

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.

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

From 2018 to 2022, Raisa starred in the Freeform show, Grown-ish, executive produced by Black-ish creator Kenya Barris. 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, opposite Tyra Banks.

In May 2021, Raisa was cast in How I Met Your Mother'''s spinoff series How I Met Your Father'', which premiered on Hulu on January 18, 2022. In February 2022, the series was renewed for a 20-episode second season. In September 2023, however, it was cancelled after two seasons.

Personal life Raisa was born in Los Angeles.

In the summer of 2017, Raisa donated one of her kidneys to singer and actress Selena Gomez, who has lupus. The latter was told by doctors that the two were a match and later informed Raisa of the confirmation. In 2023, Raisa shared on Instagram about her recent diagnosis with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS).

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos Year Title Artist(s) 2010 "So Big" Iyaz 2013 "Everybody Knows" Dustin Tavella 2015 "Gibberish" (feat. Hoodie Allen) MAX 2020 "Man" JoJo "Red Sangria" Jordin Sparks

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 Gracie Allen Awards Outstanding Female Rising Star in a Drama Series or Special The Secret Life of the American Teenager 2012 Teen Choice Awards Choice Scene Stealer: Female The Secret Life of the American Teenager Imagen Awards Best Young Actress in a Television Series The Secret Life of the American Teenager 2016 Imagen Awards Best Actress - Feature Film Beyond Paradise 2018 Imagen Awards Best Supporting Actress - Television Grown-ish 2022 NHMC Impact Awards Gala Impact Award for Performance in a SitcomHow I Met Your Father