By Julio Martinez
Having donated a kidney to a friend in need, Francia Raisa arguably knows how to be a best friend. This is also a role the actress takes on in her next big project, Hulu’s How I Met Your Father.
Raisa co-stars in the comedy series inspired by the immensely successful CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, which aired from 2005 to 2014 and garnered 10 Emmy Awards.
Francia Raisa and Hillary Duff (Photo: Hillary Duff/Instagram)
Set in the near future, mature Sophie (Kim Cattrall) tells her son the story of how she met his father, a tale that catapults the audience back to the year 2021, where youthful Sophie (Hilary Duff) and her close-knit group of friends are figuring out who they are, what they want out of life, and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options.
“I play Valentina, Sophie’s roommate,” says Raisa. “My character is an aspiring stylist, and Sophie’s BFF. Valentina is impulsive and adventurous, and Sophie relies on Valentina’s ability to cheer her up when she gets down.”
That should come easily to the actress of Mexican and Honduran descent for artistic, family and personal reasons.
She was a cheerleader in high school in her hometown of Los Angeles.
“I began taking acting jobs as a junior in high school, modeling for print ads and appearing in commercials,” recalls Raisa. The entertainment industry is something she has been familiar with since an early age. Her father, Renán Almendárez Coello, is a radio personality known as "El Cucuy" with has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was almost a given she would go into the family business.
She soon guest-starred in the FX’s war drama Over There and appeared in two comedy movies, Nickelodeon’s Shredderman Rules and the direct-to-DVD Bring It On: All or Nothing, the latter opposite Hayden Panettiere and Solange Knowles-Smith, Beyonce’s sister. She was also featured in two sequels of the Cutting Edge movie franchise.
But Raisa may be best known for her breakout role as Adrian Lee in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, another hit drama on ABC Family. That recurring part, which she played for five seasons, earned her nominations to the Alma Awards, Imagen Awards and Teen Choice Awards.
Being a best friend comes easily for Raisa. In 2017 she and singer/actress Selena Gomez made headlines when she donated one of her kidneys to one of her closest friends.
Francia Raisa with fellow cast members (Photo: Patrick Wymore/Hulu)
“I am so attracted to parts that are extremely relatable,” says Duff. “The fact that Sophie has this come together in a strange but wonderful way. It was all just really attractive to me. And the writing is really funny.”
Raisa says that cast members enjoy watching each other perform in the new show. “There (are) times where I'm cracking up laughing for real because I just think everyone here is so talented,” she says. “We are funny and we respect each other, which is why it's so beautiful and it works from the first scene in the first episode.”
Along with Cattrall, Duff and Raisa, the series also features Chris Lowell, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran and Suraj Sharma in regular roles. Recurring actors include Daniel Augustin, Josh Peck and Ashley Reyes.
Created by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, How I Met Your Father will debut Jan. 18.
Comments