Francine Diaz

Diaz grew up in Tondo, Manila and later moved to Cavite.Francine Diaz is the third out of the six children of Jesus Michael Diaz and Merdick Saenz-Diaz. She began working at a young age.^{[4][better source needed]}

Francine Diaz was discovered by her talent manager and invited to audition (VTR), marking the beginning of her career in commercials and guest roles. She entered the entertainment business at the age of 10. Diaz undertook minor roles on television, often portraying younger versions of characters in various ABS-CBN teleseries. Her acting debut occurred in 2014 when she played Young Ana Mauricio in the "Ipaglaban Mo" episode titled "Pagkilala sa Ama", alongside Jennica Garcia with Mylene Dizon.^[5] In 2015, she portrayed Young Sari in the drama series Pasión de Amor.

In 2016, she got the young role of Pinang in the noontime drama series, Be My Lady and the role of Anya in the comedy-drama series We Will Survive. She also got the role of Ginny in the drama series The Blood Sisters, in which many have noticed her great acting skills.

In 2018, Diaz rose to fame when she was tapped to portray the protagonist, Cassie Mondragon, of ABS-CBN's top-rated afternoon television series Kadenang Ginto. Kadenang Ginto proved to be a huge hit in the Philippine Television, it is one of a few daytime television dramas to last for more than a year.^[1][2] Because of her portrayal to the sweet but feisty Cassie Mondragon on the said show, most people known her and even calling her as Cassie in real life. Her role in the show as Cassie became a subject of memes and hilarity.

The success of Kadenang Ginto also led to the founding of the phenomenal group called The Gold Squad, a teenage quartet made up by Francine, Kyle, Andrea and Seth. The phenomenal quartet starred in several films and series. The Gold Squad channel gained 3M subscribers and due to their success, it also led to the formation of a sub-group called the Squad Plus and more rising stars had been added to the group.

In 2020, Diaz and Echarri starred in an iWantTFC movie, Silly Red Shoes.^[6] The duo were also cast in Bawal Lumabas: The Series (now on Netflix with an English title Her Rules, Her No's), which was inspired by a viral statement made by the leading actress Kim Chiu regarding the ABS-CBN shutdown.^[7]

In 2021, she became a main character in a new teleserye, Huwag Kang Mangamba, where she starred along with her fellow Gold Squad members Brillantes, Echarri, and Fedelin. The quartet also became lead cast members in another show—a surreal four-part digital anthology series Click, Like, Share with 4 different episodes. Francine's episode was Cancelled with Renshi de Guzman in Season 1. She also starred in the film Tenement 66 alongside Francis Magundayao and Noel Comia Jr. directed by Rae Red and co-produced by Dreamscape Entertainment. Her first ever suspense thriller film with Magundayao and Comia with Direk Rae Red competed in the 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), under the Bucheon Choice category in South Korea.^[8] Her performance in the movie Tenement 66 earned her the PinakaPASADONG Katuwang na Aktres at the 34th Gawad Pasado.^[9][10]

She also reached a new milestone as she made her runway debut at Michael Leyva's Enchanted Fashion Show held at Hilton Manila in Pasay City. Diaz opens the show with her gorgeous lilac gown with dainty floral accents that made her look like a royalty. Michael Leyva chose Diaz and Brillantes to be his youngest muses for his first fashion show since the pandemic hit the Philippines.^[11][12]

In 2022 as she turned 18, she became a cover girl for the Top Magazines in the Philippines :^[13] Metro Magazine : The Debutante of the Hour is this Season's Breakthrough Leading Lady - where she made her grand debut in a Metro digital cover, modeling fashion designer Michael Leyva's dreamy and sparkly creations,^[14]Preview Ph ,^[15]Candy Mag - as their First Digital Cover Girl of the Year,^[16]Stylish Magazine ,^[17]Mega Magazine (for the celebration of the Star Magic 30th Anniversary With the New Breed Of Bright, Young Stars: Alexa, Jayda, Belle, Andrea and Charlie) and lastly,^[18]Village Pipol Magazine : "The Rising Princess of Modern Media" and Village Pipol Finale Cover of the Year.

She obtained numerous endorsements as soon as she went solo. She has earned the trust of multiple well-known brands and businesses. She is an endorser and an ambassadress, one of her generation's most sought-after endorsers. "Blessings after blessings" , she secured another lead role in a limited web series entitled Bola-Bola: Cook. Feed. Love. Repeat, starring alongside BGYO member - Akira Morishita , KD Estrada, and Ashton Salvador that landed on Top 2 Most-watched series on iWant despite having 6 episodes that aired for three weeks,^[19] but still managed to remain on top 10 most-watched after the release date of the series.^[20] After the success of the series, Diaz now has an upcoming TV series with fellow former Gold Squad member Seth Fedelin called Dirty Linen that will premiere on Philippine Television in the year 2023.^[21] She also starred in Zack Tabudlo's latest single As You Are (AYA) music video as a lover of the singer, they're actually friends in real life and have known each other for a years now. This marks as their first time to worked with each other professionally.^[22]

Before the end of 2022, her Simply Francine YouTube channel joined the top YouTube creators and was ranked 9th when YouTube revealed the country's top trending videos, top music videos, and creators for 2022.^[23][24]

In late 2023, Diaz traveled to South Korea for a collaboration with a Korean artist, as she records an upcoming English version of a Korean song to be released in 2024.^[25][26][27]

In a media interview on their movie “My Future You,” and after 5 years of their love team, they declared they solely desire to be dubbed as "FranSeth" — not be the next KathNiel. "We don't want to be KathNiel. We are, and we want to be FranSeth," Seth Fedelin remarked. Diaz further stressed, "We can't replace KathNiel."^[28]

• Francine Diaz at IMDb