Francia Raisa

Biography

Francia Raisa is an American TV and movie actress. She is popular for playing Adrian Lee in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Ana Torres in Grown-ish, Valentina in How I Met Your Father.

Family- Childhood

Francia Raisa Almendárez was born on 26th July 1988 in Los Angeles, California, United States to Renán Almendárez Coello(Father)- a radio host & Virginia Alméndarez(Mother). She was raised in Los Angeles, California.

Francia: She is named after the kingdom Francia (France), her sisters- Italia, Irlanda are also named after the countries, it was her father's idea.

Raisa: Raisa, the middle name of Francia comes from Raisa Gorbacheva, the wife of Mikhail Gorbachev(Soviet leader).

Francia's father Renán is a Honduran born Los Angeles brought up radio personality & mother Virginia of Mexican( descent. Her father is among the most noted Latino DJs; He also goes by the alias- El Cucuy

[Francia Raisa with father Renan Almendarez Coello]

Sisters

She has two sisters in:

• Irlanda Almendarez
• Italia Almendarez

Image: Francia Raisa Family: Mother Virginia Almendarez, sister Italia Almendarez, Irlanda Almendarez 

Education

• Bishop Alemany High School: She attended the Roman Catholic secondary school located in the San Fernando Valley at Mission Hills, California. She was a cheerleader at the High School.

Friendship with Selena Gomez

In 2007 Disney & ABC had the stars of their shows visit Children's hospital. Selena and Francia were in the same group and quickly became friends. They are often seen together, through Selena Francia has been close to Justin Beiber as well, recently Francia donated Selena one of her kidneys (Selena is suffering from Lupus).

Image: Francia Raisa with Selena Gomez

The two fell apart and unfollowed each other on instagram for a while. The two eventually got together through their common friends and are close ever since.

Career

Filmography

Movies

TV Series

Music Videos

Facts & Trivia

• Francia's acting career started when she was in junior year of high school with making appearances in commercials.
• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): She has been diagnosied with PCOS, she also recommended her friend Candice Craig's book (Living With PCOS: Road To Reversal) to all those suffering from PCOS.
• Kidney donation: She is a friend of Selena Gomez, Selena suffers from Lupus- an autoimmune disease which affected her kidney. Francia donated a kidney to Selena in 2017.
• She was heart broken many times in high school.
• Francia's mother owns a restaurant, Francia takes her celebrity friends like Justin Beiber, Selena Gomez there.
• She loves popping pimples
• Backstage magazine: She has appeared on the cover page of the magazine
• Dancing: Francia got into dancing as a kid, she has learnt various forms like- tap dance, jazz, acrobatics, hip-hop, Polynesian. She attends weekly dance classes.
• Philanthropy: She works with charities and organizations dealing with- Domestic violence, Hunger, Sex trafficking.
• Kim Kardashian: She has some resemblance with Kim Kardashian West & often gets confused with her.
• Both her sister Irlanda, Italia are into acting as well.
• Her must have winter accessories: Beanies, lipsticks, scarves
• She switched to a public school from Catholic school in order to have a flexible school timings where she could get to have more time at school.
• She often does her stunts herself.
• Unlikely Heroes: Awarded her in November 2017 for her help towards the victims of human trafficking.
• She likes hanging out with friends and family.
• She is into Yoga. Shavasana (corpse pose=sleeping) is her favorite apparently :)
• She has a dog named Roman Gatsby.
• She wants to do a movie which involves dancing and has a dark theme like Black Swan.
• Burlesque dancing has lately become her favorite dance form.
• She supported DACA, tweeted against the decision of president Donald Trump.
• She presented Selena Gomez - Billboard's woman of the year 2017 award.
• ElloBella: a new style of dresses launched in 2015 by Francia Raisa
• She has her very own brands of Perfume, Vodka.
• Her grandmother ran away from a bad marriage to settle in the United States, where she raised Francia's mother alone.

Quotes

• I'm a really big flirt.
• Romantic scenes are really not awkward for me at all.
• I never watch my food, I love my burgers, I love my pizza, I work out a lot, so that balances out.
• I want to have kids some day.
• It is good for parents to bring up sex with their kids, because if you don't bring it up, they'll find out about it at school
• It's so much fun when I'm half-dressed. It's more uncomfortable for the men than it is for me
• Your parents are your best friends.
• My mom is my greatest role model.
• I miss being pregnant (about the pregnant role which grew on her)
• Whoever is going to settle down with me will be a very special patient man.
• I believe in paying it forward.
• Act like Audrey flirt like Marilyn
• Dreamers do not cause crime, and do not take jobs away from others.
• In order for an arrow to shoot forward you must first pull it back
• I'm learning that I have no problem giving but it's really hard for me to receive
• I'm really proud of the woman I'm growing to be
• One of the benefits of growing older and wiser, you can smell bullshit right away
• Just because you forgive someone that doesn't mean you have to trust them again.
• Even though I'm Hispanic, I'm so white. [2]

Awards

Sources

1. Francia Raisa on wikipedia
2. IMDB Bio page
3.