Who Is Grown-Ish Star Francia Raisa?
16 years into her acting career and bilingual actress Francia Raisa is not slowing down.
The first-generation Mexican-Honduran actress first started working in Hollywood in 2005 at the age of 17 (via Remezcla). She shortly after booked her perhaps most famous role playing Adrian Lee on the hit show "Secret Life of the American Teenager," for which she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in 2012 (via IMDB). The same year she won the Rising Star award at the LA Femme International Film Festival.
She later starred in multiple other TV shows, including "Dear White People," "The Mindy Project," and "Black-ish." She currently stars in the Freeform show "Grown-ish" as Ana Torres (via IMDb).
Proud of her hispanic and multicultural heritage, Raisa has also become an advocate for diversity and inclusion of Latinx actors into Hollywood. Throughout her life and career, she's drawn inspiration and body confidence from Latina performers like Selena Quintanilla and Jennifer Lopez. "If it wasn't for those two women I would probably be anorexic or something right now," she said in an interview with Good Morning America. "They really helped me appreciate who I am and what I look like."
Francia made a major decision when it came to her health
Francia Rasia is not a stranger to undergoing major medical procedures. While filming Season 4 of "Grown-ish," Raisa was in the process of freezing her eggs. While the process was certainly not easy, as she was injecting herself with hormones everyday, she told TVLine that she was thankful to the show's crew for understanding.
"I do recommend that everyone freeze their eggs. Maybe not while you're shooting a TV show," she told them with a chuckle. Without the stress of wondering when she would get married and start a family, Raisa was glad she took this step in her family-planning journey.
"Now I'm not in a rush to, you know, get into a relationship because my 'biological clock is ticking,'" she told the hosts of "The Talk" per People.
In 2017, the actress donated her kidney to best friend Selena Gomez. When the reboot of NBC's "Saved by the Bell" poked fun at Gomez' transplant, Raisa was quick to defend both Gomez and organ donors who may have felt offended by the remarks (via Insider).
Not only is she a successful actress, but clearly a trusted and devoted friend.