Francine Carrel Saenz Diaz (; born January 27, 2004) is a Filipino actress, model and endorser. She rose to fame and became a household name as Cassandra "Cassie" Mondragon in the highly successful TV series, Kadenang Ginto.
Dubbed as the Princess of Modern Media', Diaz began a career after appearing in several television commercials and minor roles portraying young characters of the female leads. She has since established herself as one of the biggest stars of her generation, becoming the brand ambassadress of several renowned brands & institutions including Cherry Mobile, Belo Medical Group, SISFU Southville and Dr. Alvin Skin Care Products,'Tenement 66' proves Francine Diaz is an actress to watch out for. The latter had its world premiere at the 25th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea. Among her many accolades includes multiple wins from GMMSF Box Office Entertainment Awards, Anak TV Awards, Alta Media Icon Awards and Edukcircle Awards.
Personal life
Diaz grew up in Tondo, Manila but they moved out to Cavite, Philippines because of struggles of living. Francine Diaz is the third out of the six children of Jesus Michael Diaz and Merdick Saenz-Diaz. Her siblings are Chantal, Cameron, Carmela, Courtney, and Eisa. At a very young age, she became the breadwinner of the family.
Career
2014–2018: Early career
Diaz was spotted by her talent manager and tried to invite her into a VTR, where she kicked off in commercials and guest roles. By age 10, Diaz had pushed herself to work and pursue showbiz for her family's future. At first, Francine had a hard time pursuing showbiz but she never backs down. Francine took minor roles on television and portrayed younger roles of characters in several teleseryes in ABS-CBN. She made her acting debut in 2014 when she took on the role of Young Ana Mauricio in Ipaglaban Mo Episode: "Pagkilala sa Ama" , played by Jennica Garcia with Mylene Dizon. In 2015 she took the role of 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. The latter was nearly known for portraying the young role of Kim Chiu in the noontime drama Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin. She also got the role of Ginny in the drama series The Blood Sisters in which some has noticed her great acting skills.
2018–2020: Rising popularity
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. 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. Her character had a love interest named Kristoff Tejada, who was played by Kyle Echarri. Their tandem, with the portmanteau nickname of KyCine became the viewers' favorite. It was awarded as the Best Loveteam of the Year for 2020 in the LionHeart TV Rawr Award.
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. 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.