Francia Raisa


Francia Raisa Almendarez is an American actress. Raisa is known for her roles in , The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Grown-ish.

Early life and education

Raisa was born and raised in Los Angeles, California to mother Virginia Almendárez and father Renán Almendárez Coello, an American radio personality. She is of Mexican and Honduran descent. A few years after Raisa was born, her father started using his new Latin radio personality, "El Cucuy".
Raisa attended Bishop Alemany High School 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'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 '. She co-starred in the Nickelodeon movie Shredderman Rules, where she portrayed Isabel, and in ' and ' 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. Raisa appeared in a music video for pop duo Savvy & Mandy and guest starred in the second season of '. In 2013, Raisa starred in the Christmas-themed movie Christmas Bounty alongside Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.
Since early 2018, Raisa has starred in the Freeform show, Grown-ish, executive produced by Black-ish creator Kenya Barris. She starred in Freeform's 2018 television film, Life-Size 2, opposite Tyra Banks.

Personal life

Raisa was born in Los Angeles.
In the summer of 2017, Raisa donated one of her kidneys to her friend, singer and actress Selena Gomez, who has lupus.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNominated WorkResultRefs
2011ALMA AwardsFavorite TV Actress: Leading Role in a DramaThe Secret Life of the American Teenager
2011Gracie Allen AwardsOutstanding Female Rising Star in a Drama Series or SpecialThe Secret Life of the American Teenager
2012Teen Choice AwardsChoice Scene Stealer: FemaleThe Secret Life of the American Teenager
2012Imagen AwardsBest Young Actress in a Television SeriesThe Secret Life of the American Teenager
2016Imagen AwardsBest Actress - Feature FilmBeyond Paradise
2018Imagen AwardsBest Supporting Actress - TelevisionGrown-ish