Today marks the day of our girl, Ms. Francia! So we’d like to wish her nothing but the best on this joyous day and may all her wishes be granted. I’ll do a little lengthier Birthday wish later on…

Francia has been nominated for a American Latino Award and she needs your votes so that we can make sure this happens and get her the win. So check out this link and vote for Ms. Francia!

Vote! Voto! Vote! Voto! Vote Voto!

Francia is a cover girl! Check out this awesome interview by the amazing Online Magazine - Portrait!

Hi Francia! We last spoke with you in 2007. You’ve certainly come a long way in the two years since. What are some of your fondest memories from the last two years?
Wow. Yeah, a lot has happened in the last two years. Umm honestly everything that I’m experiencing is a memory in itself. Right now the greatest memories are the ones that I’m making with the show. It’s been doing great and I’m so grateful. And of course I just shot another Cutting Edge movie which will be out in March, and that was also such an amazing experience. I can’t even single out one, everything is just a rollercoaster. A good, amazing rollercoaster.

Read more of the interview here and here.

Actress Francia Raisa Volunteers With Los Angeles Mission For Easter Celebrity Event Helping Homeless.

On Good Friday, April 10th, Francia Raisa, star of the hit ABC Family hit TV series “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” is set to volunteer at the Los Angeles Mission amongst other celebrities and volunteers.

“I think what the Los Angeles Mission does for the homeless is so inspirational and I am so proud to be apart of such a great event. I look forward to working with them as often as I can,” Francia shares.

Celebrities, TV and radio personalities and other volunteers will provide over 3,000 hot meals for the homeless along with hundreds of Easter baskets that will be given to the children. In addition, the Los Angeles Mission Community Clinic will set up a station to clean the feet of the homeless guests. This will be the second consecutive year that Francia Raisa has supported the LA Mission.

So wonderful.

Francia is talked about in an online article for, The New York Daily News! Check out the write-up below.

Francia Raisa, mean girl of ‘The Secret Life of the American Teenager’

Black and Latina teenagers getting pregnant in both TV shows and films is such a common sight that it hardly raises any eyebrows.

That is not the case with ABC Family channel’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” where the pregnant teenager is — à la “Juno” — suburban and white.

“At least I’m not playing the pregnant girl,” says Mexican/Honduran actress Francia Raisa, 20, who stars as Adrian Lee, a promiscuous, bitchy Latina high school student who enjoys the company of men — a little bit too much.

“I love playing her. But some people are offended by it.”

Raisa, best known to teenage audiences for her role in last year’s “The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream,” also on ABC Family, says it’s really easy to get the wrong idea about her character.

“I’m scared people will take the message the wrong way, and see Adrian as just a promiscuous girl and not look at her back story,” says Raisa. “She doesn’t have love in her home, and her parents aren’t around, so she tries to find love through sex. A lot of girls turn to sex to deal with whatever is going on with them.”

“Secret Life,” which airs Mondays at 8 p.m., follows the travails of 15-year-old Amy Juergens (played by Shailene Woodley), who wakes up one morning to find herself pregnant.

Despite its portrayal of premarital sex and other racy issues, Raisa says parents can learn a lot from watching “Secret Life” — and maybe help their kids make better decisions when it comes to sex.

“It’s a good way for them to bring up sex with their kids, because, trust me, if you don’t bring it up, they’ll find out about it at school,” she says.

Still, the dark-haired bootylicious Raisa says she’s enjoying the chance to play a sexy character who appears regularly in just a bra and underwear.

“It’s so much fun when I’m half-dressed. It’s more uncomfortable for the men than it is for me, because they don’t want to disrespect me,” she says with a laugh. “But they all have really good intentions.”

Born Francia Raisa Almendárez in Los Angeles, she is the daughter of famed Honduran radio host Renán Almendárez Coello — aka “El Cucuy” — and Virginia Alméndarez of Mexico.

She doesn’t know the Hispanic background of her character, just that she is Latina.

“Secret Life” became a summer hit after its debut in July. And despite the buzz of shows like “Gossip Girl” and “90210,” “Secret Life” has consistently higher ratings.

“The pregnancy thing draws a lot of attention,” Raisa says. “But we also deal with situations in a more realistic way than those shows. [Source]

As per Francia’s MySpace - she’s in the pages of the magazine Latino Future! She also has a cover mention that basically just let’s you know that you’ll see her gracing the pages. I agree with others that I would love to have been able to see her on the cover of LF - but hey… you got to start somewhere.

The cover lists Francia as a Latina on the Verge and when you see her page she’s The Future: Actress on the Verge.

We’ll have a scan for you soon. Let’s hope we see Francia as a Cover Girl on both Latino Future & Latina magazine (and more) in the near future.

Wow I must have been out of it that I didn’t realize that, The Secret Life Of The American Teenager, won the award it was nominated for at The 2008 Teen Choice Awards.  The show was up for:

Choice Summer TV Show

TSL took it home!  Here’s what Francia had to say after winning:

“The Secret Life of the American Teenager” starring Francia Raisa (Adrian Lee) wins the 2008 Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer TV Show. Up against hot summer series “America’s Best Dance Crew,” “Degrassi,” “High School Musical: Get in the Picture,” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” was the favored winner, armed by impressive viewer statistics and a quickly growing teen fan base.

“It is such an honor to win an award that is completely decided by your fans” says Francia Raisa. “The Teen Choice Awards was by far one of the most exciting award shows I have ever been to, and the fact that we won was amazing – I appreciate and love my fans so much, I hope they enjoy the rest of season one, we have some great stuff coming up!”

They deserved the win - and I’m incredibly glad for them since this was the show I was rooting for.  I’ve also read interviews from the press about the impact Francia says the show is making on teenagers everywhere. She’s received emails from teens across the country.

Francia and the Secret Life cast attended the Mattel Celebrity Retreat Backstage from the Teen Choice Awards 2008 last night.  The Secret Life Of The American Teenager is up for an award: Choice New Tv Show (or something like that).  The telecast is set to air tonight at 8 p.m. EST.

14 pictures are up of Francia in the gallery!

FRO | Photo Archive

Happy Belated 20th Birthday Francy! Hope you had a wonderful day on this special occasion!

Watch Francia and Daren in this little interview conducted with TV GUide at the ABC & Disney Summer Tour All-Star Party discussing their hit show, The Secret Life Of The American Teenager.  Here’s the embeded video.