Francia Raisa

Early life and education

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.

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 polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

In September 2025, Raisa was asked about the rumors that she and Selena Gomez are no longer friends following her kidney donation. She said: "I'm grateful that I could do that for her. From the beginning the doctors told me, it's a donation. There are too many rumours. I've never said anything." Raisa said "I'm very happy for her" when asked about Gomez and Benny Blanco getting married.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Raisa, Francia. (July 26, 2017). "Francia Raisa Official Twitter".
2. Rodriguez, Priscilla. (November 26, 2013). "Exclusive: Francia Raisa Talks 'Christmas Bounty' & BFF Selena Gomez!". [[Latina (magazine).
3. Hernández, Lee. (January 27, 2009). "Francia Raisa, mean girl of 'The Secret Life of the American Teenager'". [[New York Daily News]].
4. Hernandez, Lee. (June 11, 2012). "'The Secret Life Of The American Teenager:' Our 15 Favorite Francia Raisa Scenes (VIDEO)". [[Huffington Post]].
5. Moniuszko, Sara M.. (September 14, 2017). "Who is Francia Raisa? 5 things to know about Selena Gomez's kidney donor". [[USA Today]].
6. Geragotelis, Brittany. (June 2011). "Francia Raisa's (Not So) Secret Life". [[American Cheerleader]].
7. Petski, Denise. (August 30, 2017). "'Grown-ish': 'Black-ish' Spinoff Adds Francia Raisa & Jordan Buhat As Regulars, Chloe x Halle To Recur". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
8. Agard, Chancellor. (August 30, 2017). "'Grown-ish': Francia Raisa, Jordan Buhat Join 'Black-ish' Spin-Off".
9. Ausiello, Michael. (March 24, 2022). "grown-ish Shake-Up: 6 Original Cast Members Exiting Ahead of Season 5".
10. Petski, Denise. (July 9, 2018). "Francia Raisa To Co-Star Opposite Tyra Banks In 'Life Size 2' On Freeform". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
11. Nolfi, Joey. (July 9, 2018). "Tyra Banks reveals Francia Raisa as her costar, more Life-Size 2 plot details".
12. Schwartz, Ryan. (November 17, 2021). "How I Met Your Father Gets January Premiere Date on Hulu — Watch Video".
13. Cordero, Rosy. (February 15, 2022). "'How I Met Your Father' Renewed For Season 2 At Hulu".
14. Sherlock, Ben. (September 4, 2023). "Why Hulu Cancelled How I Met Your Father After Only 2 Seasons".
15. Moniuszko, Sara M.. (September 14, 2017). "Who is Francia Raisa? 5 things about the 'Grown-ish' actress you've probably seen before". [[USA Today]].
16. France, Lisa Respers. (September 15, 2017). "Selena Gomez's best friend gave her a kidney". [[CNN]].
17. Kim, Eun Kyung. (October 31, 2017). "Selena Gomez: Kidney transplant 'defined everything that I am right now'". [[The Today Show]].
18. Stanton, Leanne Aciz. (February 17, 2018). "Francia Raisa Talks Recovery After Selena Gomez Kidney Donation". [[Us Weekly]].
19. Chung • •, Gabrielle. (2023-08-02). "Francia Raísa addresses claim she was 'forced' to donate kidney to Selena Gomez".
20. Vasquez, Ingrid. "Francia Raisa Reveals Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Diagnosis: 'Still Learning How to Live with It'".
21. Ortiz, Magaly. (September 25, 2025). "Francia Raísa le dono su riñón a Selena Gomez.".
22. Nolfi, Joey. (July 9, 2018). "Tyra Banks reveals Francia Raisa as her costar, more Life-Size 2 plot details".
23. "So Big [Official Music Video] - Iyaz".
24. Yaranon, Charisma. (July 15, 2013). "Dustin Tavella Releases "Everybody Knows" Video Featuring Danny Trejo and Marielle Jaffe with Appearances from Selena Gomez, Francia Raisa, Samantha Droke and Baby Bash". Cision PRWeb.
25. Raisa, Fancia. (March 22, 2015). "Had so much fun working with these guys for @maxgschneider new video "gibberish" which will be dropping tomorrow! Thanks for having me be a part of it @maxgschneider and @laurajquinn excited for you guys to see it". [[Instagram]].
26. "MAX - Gibberish (feat. Hoodie Allen) [Official Music Video - YTMAs]".
27. "2011 NCLR ALMA AWARDS". [[ALMA Awards]].
28. "2011 Gracie Awards Winners". [[Gracie Awards.
29. (July 22, 2012). "Teen Choice Awards 2012: Complete Winners List". [[MTV]].
30. "2012 Imagen Awards Winners & Nominees".
31. (July 18, 2016). "Nominations Announced for the 31st Annual Imagen Awards".
32. "2018 Imagen Awards Winners & Nominees".
33. Gardner, Chris. (August 31, 2022). "Impact Awards to Honor George and Mayan Lopez, Colman Domingo, Francia Raisa and Yvett Merino".