Francia Raisa – Chasing the Dream

Latina starlet, Francia Raisa is set to star in ABC Family’s original movie, "The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream" premiering this Sunday, March 16th at 8 pm PT/ET. Most people know this brown-eyed beauty from one of her most memorable roles to date, starring opposite NBC’s "Heroes’" Hayden Panettiere in "Bring it On: All or Nothing." After shooting "Bring it On- All or Nothing,"

Francia went on to film more commercials, take on more print jobs, and starred in the Nickelodeon film "Shredderman Rules". This past summer she starred in a lead role in "Underground," directed and written by Tinieblas González.

Now, with Francia’s lead female role of MGM’s, "The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream" alongside actor Matt Lanter (Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy). This third installment of the "Cutting Edge" trilogy revolves around ice skating’s most eligible bachelor Zack Conroy (Lanter), who loses his ice skating partner and girlfriend when she breaks her leg in an accident. In comes Francia’s character, her replacement, Alejandra "Alex" Delgado -a tough yet beautiful hockey player that gets him racing in his heart and in the rink.

Francia Raisa kindly took the time out of her day to chat with LA’s the Place about "The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream" DVD dropping on April 1, 2008.

LATP: What is the movie about?  Is it similar to the first two movies?

Francia Raisa: The movie is about a figure skater named Zach who injures his partner during a rehearsal, and has to find a new one in order to compete.  That is where I come in!  The character I play, Alex, is a hockey player who impresses Zach with her beauty and skating abilities.  Alex and Zach partner up, and the sparks fly.  I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, you have to watch the movie!  It is similar to the first two films because there are the love story and action elements, but the characters are very different.  It is the first time they have a guy as the initial figure skater, and a girl as the hockey player. 

LATP: What did you enjoy best about working on this film?

FR: I loved the energy and the passion that everyone had while making this film.  We all had great chemistry, and we all got along really well.  It translated to the big screen amazingly, and it helped us bring the characters to life.  I really enjoyed getting back into figure skating and learning all the stunts.  I used to skate about nine years ago, and when I was doing this film I was able to advance my skating abilities, get into shape, and I got free ice skating lessons!  

LATP: What was it like working with Matt Lanter?

FR: We had so much fun.  We actually got to hang out for about a month before we started filming, and we became really good friends.  It helped when it came time to start filming because we were already comfortable with each other. 

LATP: So we hear you have ice skating experience, did you do many of your own stunts?

FR: I do have skating experience; I took lessons when I was younger.  My mother owns a restaurant across the street from an ice skating rink, and I used to skate there all the time.  I actually started skating again months before I had even gotten the script for the movie. I had always wanted to pick up skating again, so I started taking private lessons once a week just for fun.  Then, I was cast in a film that was being shot in Spain, and I was gone for about six weeks.  When I got back from shooting I heard about "The Cutting Edge" movie.  It was such a small world!  When I landed this role, it felt a lot easier for me in rehearsals to learn everything, including new stunts.  We did do a lot of our own skating in the film, but we definitely had stunt doubles for the big stunts.  We could do them in our shoes, but not on skates.  I was scared to even attempt it!  We did do one stunt that ended up being in the film called "Jesus Christ" and I am really proud of that!

LATP: What is up next for you in 2008?

FR: I have so much going on this year!  ABC Family is becoming my new home.  I have an up and coming TV series project with them that starts filming in April – it is going to take up a lot of my time this year and I am so excited to start it!  I have to go back to Spain sometime this year as well to finish up the film "Underground" that I started shooting last year. It’s going to be great.