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Francia Raísa always knew she would pursue acting. "I used to watch telenovelas with my grandmother. I would turn to her and say, 'I'm going to do that when I grow up,' I just didn't know how," says Francia. It didn't take long for Francia to land her first role on a big network like Freeform (formerly known as ABC Family). At 16 years old, she pursued dancing, and was quite good at it. So good, that it led to her first big TV role. "In my backup-dancing journey, I met a manager. At the time, she was looking for a bilingual Latina —and I am! So she signed me, and about six months later I booked Bring It On. It's been a rollercoaster ever since." That first role as Leti in Bring It On: All or Nothing was just the beginning of a long, successful journey with Freeform. In 2008, Francia landed the role of Alex Delgado in Freeform's TV movie, The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream. Francia shares that MGM didn't really want to hire her for The Cutting Edge. "They thought there was someone else who was a stronger actor, but I was the only one who knew how to ice skate," she explains. In the end, it was her ice skating background that got her the part, but this wasn't a victory yet. "They kept saying I was very green —that comment really bothered me. I actually had a hard time with the first Cutting Edge movie, because I had that feedback in the back of my head, which made me really work hard." At the time, Francia didn't have a strong acting background. "I was going with the flow. I learned on set how to be on set and how to act," she says. After The Cutting Edge, Francia decided to take acting lessons. "I can't just fake it. There was natural talent, but there is more to the craft and I didn't want to BS my way through." Francia loved being in front of the camera as a teenager, but there was more to it for her. "When I was 16, the movie Thirteen came out. That one really struck me hard, because I was a little rebelde when I was a teenager. And I'm an older sister, so watching that movie really opened my eyes to what kind of influence I was putting in my younger sisters —it woke me up." This is when the power of the entertainment industry became very clear to her. Francia realized she too could tell stories that moved kids, the way Thirteen moved her. Booking roles as a Latina is not an easy task. But Francia separated herself from the rest by being really good at other things, in addition to acting. "My dad was really big on putting me in everything when I was little, like karate, dance lessons, ice skating when I was 11; I was a competitive ice skater," she explains. So, when it was time to audition, she was ready. "For Bring It On, the dance portion was part of the audition. And I was like, I got this. No problem! I know that helped me book the part." The same year (2008) Francia landed The Cutting Edge, she was given a more permanent home on Freeform —playing Adrian Lee in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which aired until 2013. Fourteen years later, the now 31-year-old actress continues to work with the network (her second home) where it all started. Francia currently portrays Ana Torres on Grown-ish, which was renewed for a third season. "I'm so different from Ana, it's not even funny," Francia laughs. "It's hilarious when I go try on costumes for Ana, because our stylist always asks me if I like it, and I say, 'Francia doesn't, but I'm sure Ana does.'" Though Francia is so different from her character, she still has a lot of fun with Ana and has