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Naya Rivera from Fox's musical comedy-drama television series Glee and 50 things from her life and career.
1. Naya Rivera Dorsey born Naya Marie Rivera is an American actress and singer, known for playing Santana Lopez on Fox's musical comedy-drama television series Glee.
2. She also played the role of Hillary Winston on The Royal Family at the age of 4, for which she received a Young Artist Award nomination.
3. Her first solo single "Sorry", featuring American rapper Big Sean, was released on September 17, 2013.
4. Naya Marie Rivera was born and raised in Valencia, California, and has lived in or around Los Angeles for most of her life.
5. Naya Rivera is of Puerto Rican, African American, and German descent.
6. Her parents are Yolanda, a former model, and George Rivera.
7. Her brother is NFL tight end Mychal Rivera.
8. Her younger sister is runway model Nickayla Rivera.
9. At 8 or 9 months old, Rivera began to be represented by the same talent agent as her mother, who had moved to Los Angeles to pursue modeling.
10. Naya Rivera appeared in commercials for Kmart as a baby, but her first significant acting job was at age 4 when she appeared as Hillary Winston in The Royal Family sitcom in 1991. The show received positive reviews and high ratings initially, but it was cancelled soon after star Redd Foxx suffered a sudden heart attack on set.
11. Rivera received a Young Artist Award nomination for her performance in the series.
12. Between 1992 and 2002, she had small roles in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, Live Shot, Baywatch, Smart Guy, The Jersey, House Blend, Even Stevens and The Master of Disguise.
13. In 2002, she also appeared in the music video for B2K's "Why I Love You".
14. She was hired for a single episode guest appearance on The Bernie Mac Show in 2002, but she was brought back to work on a further ten episodes throughout all five seasons.
15. Naya Rivera was later featured in episodes of 8 Simple Rules and CSI: Miami.
16. In between auditions and roles, Rivera worked jobs as a telemarketer, a nanny and a greeter at an Abercrombie & Fitch store.
17. In 2006 and 2007, Rivera took part in a production of Mark E. Swinton's play, U Don't Know Me: The Musical, both in Los Angeles and when the production was taken on national tour.
18. In 2009, Rivera was cast as Santana Lopez, a high school cheerleader, 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).
19. Naya 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.
20. Naya Rivera drew on her own high school experience of unpopularity to prepare for the role, as well as watching films such as Mean Girls to "really get in the zone and feel like a bitchy sophomore."
21. Naya Rivera enjoys the fact Santana is competitive and headstrong as she herself shares those traits, but dislikes Santana's mean streak.
22. Naya Rivera finds the show's pacing challenging, especially the dancing, and commented in June 2009 that her most memorable moment on Glee was performing the Cheerios' glee club audition piece, "I Say a Little Prayer".
23. Naya Rivera played a more prominent part in the last nine episodes of Glee 's first season. Rivera commented: "Santana's been wreaking havoc with people's boyfriends and people's babies and teachers - she's the high school terror, and she's going to continue to be the villain."
24. After having her screen time and musical involvement increased in the second half of the first season, Rivera was promoted to official series regular status as of the beginning of the second season.
25. In January 2011, Rivera appeared in a parody of "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", called "Nuthin' But a Glee Thang", co-written by Glee co-star Heather Morris.
26. In July 2011, Rivera was nominated for two ALMA Awards, in the categories of Favorite Female Music Artist and Favorite TV Actress - Leading Role in a Comedy.
27. Naya Rivera received a great amount of critical praise for both her acting and her singing performances in the latter part of season two and the beginning of season three.
28. As 2011 ended, she or her character were on many "Best Of" lists, including HitFix's 25 Breakout Stars of 2011, TV Guide 's Best Performances of 2011, MTV 's Best TV Characters of 2011, as well as others.
29. In the second half of the series' third season, she was given the opportunity to do a duet with Ricky Martin, and worked with Gloria Estefan, who was cast as Santana's mother.
30. As the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards approached, Rivera was listed by many critics and media outlets as deserving of a nomination; The Hollywood Reporter included her in their "Emmy 2012: Supporting Players" photo shoot, and Rivera was also honored by E!, HitFix, TV Guide, and others.
31. Naya Rivera was also chosen by the TV Academy to take part in a promotional video for the upcoming awards ceremony. Regarding her awards season buzz, Rivera commented to The Hollywood Reporter: "For people to even think that I'd be considered or a good candidate for a Supporting Actress nomination is mind-blowing to me."
32. In May 2011, it was announced that Rivera had signed a deal with Columbia Records to produce a solo album.
33. The musical duo 2Cellos released the second single to their second album, a cover of Muse's "Supermassive Black Hole" featuring vocals by Rivera. She also starred in the music video for the song.
34. Rivera's debut single "Sorry", featuring rapper Big Sean, was released as a digital download on September 17, 2013.
35. On May 1, 2014, it was reported that Columbia had dropped Rivera because her debut single had underperformed. Rivera's representative released a statement to news outlets stating that any claims were falsified, and that legal action would be potentially taken to ensure Rivera's creditability; at the time of publishing, Columbia Records could not be reached for comment.
36. Naya Rivera was working on an immigrant project with Guillermo Diaz, which was a short film PSA about the effect of immigration on children and their parents. While Diaz's part is about telling the stories of young dreamers and the fear they have of their mothers being deported, Rivera's PSA is about the problems immigrants deal with or face in the U.S.
37. At the Devil's Door (previously titled Home), Rivera's debut feature film, premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas on March 9, 2014. The film has been described by its director, Nicholas McCarthy, as "a unique kind of genre film I think, almost like a Rubik's cube of a horror movie." The film continued to play at festivals, receiving mixed reviews. Rivera's acting, however, received praise
38. In 2015, Rivera will portray the recurring role of Blanca in the third season of Devious Maids.
39. Rivera will release a memoir titled Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up in spring 2016.
40. Naya Rivera briefly dated Glee co-star Mark Salling in 2010.
41. Naya Rivera began dating recording artist Big Sean in April 2013.
42. They announced their engagement that October but ended their relationship in April 2014.
43. Soon after, Rivera began dating actor Ryan Dorsey, her good friend of four years.
44. They were married in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on July 19, 2014
45. On February 24, 2015, Rivera announced via Twitter that she and Dorsey are expecting their first child.
46. Naya Rivera dedicates her time to various charitable organizations, including GLAAD, The Trevor Project, Stand Up to Cancer, The Elephant Project and The Sunshine Foundation.
47. In 2011, Rivera hosted the San Francisco GLAAD Media Awards.
48. In November 2011, Rivera and her Glee co-star Amber Riley performed at the 10th Annual Celebration of Dreams Event for the Dream Foundation.
49. In December 2011, Rivera was revealed as the newest celebrity spokesperson for Proactiv.
50. On March 24, 2012, she co-hosted the 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York with Glee co-star Cory Monteith. Along with John Stamos, both hosts auctioned off kisses to the crowd, raising $15,000. This tradition started with Rivera when she hosted the 22nd Annual Media Awards in San Francisco.
