Francia Raisa

About

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, and How I Met Your Father.

Raisa was born in Los Angeles, California to a Mexican mother, Virginia Almendárez (née Pelayo), and Renán Almendárez Coello, a Honduran-born radio personality; and raised in Los Angeles. A few years after she was born, her father started using his new Latin radio personality, “El Cucuy”.
Raisa attended Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills, where she was a cheerleader.

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…