Naya Rivera
Rivera at the Glee premiere party, Santa Monica, California, May 2009
Born	January 12, 1987 (1987-01-12) (age 23)
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1991 – present
Official website

Naya Rivera (born January 12, 1987) is an American actress best known for her role as Santana Lopez in the musical comedy series Glee.

Early life

Rivera was raised in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California and has lived in or around Los Angeles for most of her life. At eight or nine months old, she began to be represented by the same talent agent as her mother, who had moved to Los Angeles to pursue modelling. She took up songwriting at the age of 15.

Career

As a baby, Rivera appeared in commercials for Kmart, but her first significant acting job was at the age of four when she starred as Hillary Winston in the Eddie Murphy produced sitcom The Royal Family in 1991. Between 1992 and 2002, she had small roles in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, Live Shot, Baywatch, Smart Guy, House Blend, Even Stevens and The Master of Disguise. In 2002 she also appeared in the music video for B2K's Why I love you.She was hired for a single-episode guest appearance on The Bernie Mac Show in 2002, but was brought back to work on a further five episodes. She was later featured in single episodes of 8 Simple Rules and CSI: Miami.

In 2009, Rivera was hired to play Cheerios cheerleading squad member Santana Lopez on Fox's musical comedy series Glee, about a high school glee club. Rivera's character comes off as a cold-hearted and vicious cheerleader, who often shows her softer side to fellow cheerleader Brittany (played by Heather Morris). Rivera auditioned for the opportunity "to sing, dance and act all in the same show," and because she was a fan of co-creator Ryan Murphy's previous work on Nip/Tuck.

Rivera has expressed interest in putting her acting career on hold in the future to pursue screenwriting. Naya is also an avid reader and dedicates some of her time to various charitable organizations.

Personal life

Rivera is one half Puerto Rican, one quarter German, and one quarter African-American. According to Naya, "My passion for music is one of my greatest loves."

External links

• Official website
• Naya Rivera at the Internet Movie Database

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