Raini-Alena Rodriguez (born July 1, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Trish in the Disney Channel original series Austin & Ally, Maya Blart in Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015), and Tess in Prom (2011). She won Best Young Television Actress at the 2013 Imagen Awards.
Early and personal life
Rodriguez was born in Bryan, Texas. She is the older sister of actor Rico Rodriguez. She has two other brothers, Ray and Roy Jr. Her parents, Diane and Roy Rodriguez, own a business called Rodriguez Tire Service. She is of Mexican descent.
Raini was discovered at an IMTA showcase, by Susan Osser, a California talent agent. After viewing Raini's performance, Osser suggested to Raini's mother that Osser should become Raini's manager and come to California to give Raini a year for career opportunities. At the time, Raini was 11 years old. Her mother agreed. Raini and her brother Rico moved to Los Angeles with their mother, while their father stayed in Texas to run the tire shop. Their mother home-schooled them to support their careers.
On March 12, 2017, Rodriguez's father, Roy, died at age 52.
In March 2018, several memes involving Rodriguez went viral on multiple social media platforms where trolls would sarcastically label her as a "skinny legend" and compare her music discography, most notably her 2012 song "Living Your Dreams", to several uplifted and acclaimed acts in the industry, such as Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston. Rodriguez was subsequently asked about her opinions on the memes on her Twitter account 3 months later; she condemned the memes and labeled them as a form of online bullying, stating that she chooses to embrace positive attention instead. Despite Rodriguez's comments, the same people have continued to sarcastically praise her and continue to call her a "skinny legend". This has resulted in Rodriguez having to block multiple users on her social media platforms.
Filmography Film Year Title RoleNotes 2007 Parker Kid on Playground #2 2008 Babysitters Beware Marco's Sister #1 2009 Paul Blart: Mall Cop Maya Blart Slice of Water Maggie Blumsfeld Gordita Teenage Tatiana 2011 Prom Tess Torres Last Chance Lloyd Tess Torres Short film 2012 Girl in Progress Tavita2014 When Marnie Was There Nobuko Kadoya (English voice) 2015 Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Maya Blart Bob's Broken Sleigh Wupsy Voice
Television Year Title RoleNotes 2006 Huff Denise Episode: "Black Shadows" 2007 Handy Manny Isabel Montoya (voice) Episode:"Lost and Found" Family of the Year Maria Episode: "Pilot" The Suite Life of Zack & Cody Betsy Episode: "Sleepover Suite" 2010 I'm in the Band Arlene Roca 2 episodes 2011–16 Austin & Ally Trish De la Rosa Main Role (87 episodes); director: "Rejection & Rocketships" 2011 True Jackson, VP Nina Episode: "True Mall" The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Herself (Season 20, episode 46) 2015 Growing Up and Down Jackie Unaired TV pilot I Didn't Do It Trish De la Rosa Episode: "Bite Club" 2016 Mutt & Stuff Gabby Groomer Episode: "Skate Doggin'" 2017 Vampirina Creepy Caroline (voice) Episode: "The Ghoul Girls" 2018–19 The Lion Guard Starehe (voice) 2 episodes 2018 Double Dare Herself Contestant; episode: "Team Rico vs. Team Raini" 2019 Knight Squad The Witch Doctor Episode: "The Knight Stuff" 2019–23 Bunk'd Barb Barca Recurring role, 8 episodes 2019 Where's Waldo Maria (voice) Episode: "A New York Minute" 2020 The Substitute Herself Episode: "Rico & Raini Rodriguez" 2020–22 Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous Sammy Gutierrez (voice) Main role 2021 A Tale Dark & Grimm Gretel (voice) 2021–23 Rugrats Gabi (voice) 5 episodes 2024–25 Jurassic World: Chaos Theory Sammy Gutierrez (voice) Main role
Discography Singles As lead artist TitleYearAlbum"Living Your Dreams"2012Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta!
As featured artist TitleYearAlbum"Austin & Ally Glee Club Mash Up"(with Austin & Ally cast)2013Disney Channel Play It Loud
Promotional singles TitleYearAlbum"Vive Tus Sueños" ("Living Your Dreams")2012Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta!"Double Take"2013Austin & Ally"You Wish You Were Me"Non-album single"Row, Row, Row Your Boat"2014Austin & Ally
Videography Year Title Director2012"Living Your Dreams"Unknown
Awards and nominations Year Association Category Work Result 2010 Young Artist Awards Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2013 Imagen Awards Best Young Actress/Television Austin & Ally 2015 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Actress: Comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Imagen Awards Best Supporting Actress – Television Austin & Ally
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