Francia Raisa on the Importance of Bringing Her Latin Culture to 'Grown-ish' and 'Life-Size 2' (Exclusive)
Francia Raisa prides herself in being able to bring her Latin culture to her workplace.
The 30-year-old actress is of Mexican and Honduran descent -- her father is famed radio personality Renán Almendárez Coello, known as "El Cucuy De La Mañana," who hosted the morning show on KLAX-FM in Los Angeles -- and loves being able to incorporate Spanish into her scenes whenever she can. Starring as Ana Torres in Grown-ish, Raisa has gotten the opportunity to add her blend of "Spanglish" to the script, and expect to hear more of it in season two.
"There's a bit in there. [It was the] writers idea, which I really appreciate," Raisa told ET's Courtney Tezeno during the Grown-ish set visit earlier this month. "I try to incorporate it every now and then. Sometimes we have to improv a little bit when a scene is starting. Sometimes they'll bring background [actors] and say, 'OK, you're at a party, you're playing background so just talk.'"
"So one time they actually brought me somebody that's Colombian and I was like, 'Cool, let's talk in Spanish,'" she continued. "So we had a whole conversation in Spanish before the scene started, kind of leading up to the scene. So little pockets that I throw in there. They love it! I really love Freeform for really encouraging that."
Grown-ish isn't the only project for the network that has let her incorporate her Hispanic heritage. Raisa also credits Tyra Banks for helping her "bring her culture" into her role as Grace Manning in Life-Size 2: A Christmas Eve.
"Even in Life Size 2, there wasn't any Spanish in it and Tyra was like, 'Girl, bring your culture in this!'" she shared. "So there's a scene that I have with my mother in the movie. They actually let me write a lot of the Spanish dialogue."
Meanwhile, as fans prepare for season two of Grown-ish, expect plenty more bilingual chat from the college student. Additionally, Ana will also be getting a new roommate, Nomi Segal, played by Emily Arlook. The two will be "polar opposites," Raisa dished, adding that Ana, Nomi and Zoey Johnson (Yara Shahidi) will be "living in a brand new apartment, which is really funny because we all find ways to afford it. You'll see that in the first episode."
"Ana's very conservative and a little bit in the bubble and Nomi is not," Raisa explained, teasing some tension. "It's very interesting just our very first night there... There are boundaries that I'm really trying to place and Nomi hears the opposite and she's like, 'Cool, so more parties?"
When it comes to Raisa's own personal living situation, the brunette beauty said she's better off living by herself. "I don't think I'm a good roommate because I have so many rules," she laughed. "Which is why I just ended up living alone. When I had a roommate I was like, 'Oh, I want the fridge. Oh, I'm cooking.'"
And when she says she wants the fridge, she means the whole fridge, as well as the kitchen!
"The thing is, I'm Mexican and I like to cook my beans every week, and I like to keep it in the pot so I don't have to take it out of the Tupperware," Raisa explained. "You have to heat up the beans, so that takes up a lot of space. And I like my queso fresco and I like my vegetables. Yeah, I'm just very Mexican."
While Raisa doesn't have to personally deal with roommates anymore, find out how Ana handles her new living situation when season two of Grown-ish premieres with back-to-back episodes on Jan. 2, 2019.
For more on Raisa and her work on Life Size 2, watch ET's exclusive interview below.
Get more Latinx news on ET MÁS, ETonline's new section featuring the latest celeb, film, TV, music and style news.
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