Naya Rivera Through the Years: ‘Glee,’ Motherhood and More

Credit: Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Naya Rivera Through the Years: ‘Glee,’ Motherhood and More

Naya Rivera made a name for herself with her role as Santana Lopez on Glee, but her acting career started long before that. The Santa Clarita, California, native appeared in Kmart commercials as an infant and landed her first TV role at the age of 4 when she joined the cast of The Royal Family. In 1992, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for playing Hillary Winston on the short-lived CBS sitcom. After making appearances on shows including Family Matters, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Baywatch in the 1990s, Rivera scored a recurring role on The Bernie Mac Show. She was initially hired for one episode, but her character, Donna, ended up making 11 appearances between 2002 and 2006. The actress made her breakthrough in 2009 when she joined the cast of Glee. Initially, her cheerleader character was seen as cold-hearted and mean, but over time she became a pivotal member of the glee club at William McKinley High School. Santana came out as a lesbian during the Fox series’ third season, a particularly poignant moment for viewers in the LGBTQ community. During her time on Glee, Rivera won a SAG Award and received a Grammy nomination, among other accolades. After the musical dramedy ended in 2015, she starred on Lifetime’s Devious Maids and YouTube Premium’s Step Up. [jwplayer 6HgC8LrJ] Throughout the years, fans became invested in the singer’s personal life and relationships. Months after her engagement to rapper Big Sean ended, she married her ex-boyfriend Ryan Dorsey in July 2014. The couple welcomed a son, Josey, the following year before divorcing in June 2018. In July 2020, Rivera was declared a missing person after going for a boat ride with Josey at Lake Piru in Ventura County, California. Josey was found asleep on their rented boat with his life vest on, but Rivera was nowhere in sight. Officials announced five days later that she was found dead in the lake. Scroll down to see photos of Rivera through the years.

Credit: Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Naya Rivera Through the Years: ‘Glee,’ Motherhood and More

Naya Rivera made a name for herself with her role as Santana Lopez on Glee, but her acting career started long before that. The Santa Clarita, California, native appeared in Kmart commercials as an infant and landed her first TV role at the age of 4 when she joined the cast of The Royal Family. In 1992, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for playing Hillary Winston on the short-lived CBS sitcom. After making appearances on shows including Family Matters, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Baywatch in the 1990s, Rivera scored a recurring role on The Bernie Mac Show. She was initially hired for one episode, but her character, Donna, ended up making 11 appearances between 2002 and 2006. The actress made her breakthrough in 2009 when she joined the cast of Glee. Initially, her cheerleader character was seen as cold-hearted and mean, but over time she became a pivotal member of the glee club at William McKinley High School. Santana came out as a lesbian during the Fox series’ third season, a particularly poignant moment for viewers in the LGBTQ community. During her time on Glee, Rivera won a SAG Award and received a Grammy nomination, among other accolades. After the musical dramedy ended in 2015, she starred on Lifetime’s Devious Maids and YouTube Premium’s Step Up. [jwplayer 6HgC8LrJ] Throughout the years, fans became invested in the singer’s personal life and relationships. Months after her engagement to rapper Big Sean ended, she married her ex-boyfriend Ryan Dorsey in July 2014. The couple welcomed a son, Josey, the following year before divorcing in June 2018. In July 2020, Rivera was declared a missing person after going for a boat ride with Josey at Lake Piru in Ventura County, California. Josey was found asleep on their rented boat with his life vest on, but Rivera was nowhere in sight. Officials announced five days later that she was found dead in the lake. Scroll down to see photos of Rivera through the years.

Credit: YouTube

1991

Rivera made her TV debut on The Royal Family as Redd Foxx and Della Reese’s onscreen daughter, Hillary. The show was canceled after one season following Foxx’s sudden death from a heart attack on set.

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2002

As a teen, Rivera joined The Bernie Mac Show for what was originally supposed to be a one-episode role. However, she was brought back for more and ultimately appeared in all five seasons of the Fox sitcom.

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2009

The actress auditioned for Glee as a fan of cocreator Ryan Murphy’s work on Nip/Tuck. Santana was initially supposed to be a recurring character, but she became a main player by the end of season 1. Throughout the show’s six seasons, Santana had relationships with characters including Noah “Puck” Puckerman (Mark Salling), Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith), Brittany S. Pierce (Heather Morris) and Dani (Demi Lovato).

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2013

After being introduced on Twitter, Rivera and Sean went public with their romance in April 2013. They got engaged that October, but Us Weekly broke the news of their split in April 2014. During their relationship, the pair released a song together titled “Sorry.”

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2014

Rivera made her feature film debut in At the Devil’s Door, which premiered at the South by Southwest festival. While the horror movie received mixed reviews, critics praised Rivera’s work.

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2014

Three months after calling it quits with Sean, Rivera secretly tied the knot with Dorsey in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on July 19, 2014 — the same date that she was supposed to marry the “I Don’t F--k With You” rapper. She filed for divorce from the actor in November 2016, but they reconciled the next year. However, after a domestic incident in November 2017, Rivera filed divorce paperwork again. Their marriage officially ended in June 2018.

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2015

The then-couple welcomed their first and only child, Josey, in September 2015. (In her memoir, Sorry Not Sorry, the actress revealed that she previously had an abortion after conceiving with Dorsey at the height of her Glee fame.)

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2015

Rivera starred as Blanca Alvarez on five episodes of Devious Maids, her first major role since Glee.

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2016

The TV star dropped bombshell after bombshell in her 2016 memoir, Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up. She opened up about her past battle with anorexia, Monteith’s drinking habits, her abortion and her failed relationships with Sean and Salling. (Monteith and Salling died in 2013 and 2018, respectively.)

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2017

Amid her divorce, Rivera entered into a relationship with David Spade. “It’s casual. They’re having fun,” a source told Us in April 2017, a few months before the pair quietly separated.

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2018

In 2018, Rivera landed a role as Collette Jones on YouTube’s Step Up series, which is based on the movies starring Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan. The show was canceled in 2019, but Starz picked it up in 2020.

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2020

Rivera was reported missing on July 8, 2020, after her boat was found adrift at Lake Piru with her 4-year-old son asleep on it. “It is believed that Naya and her son were swimming in the lake near the boat, and as they were getting back into the boat, her son made it into the boat and Naya went underwater and did not resurface,” the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement to Us. On July 13, 2020, a body was found in the lake. Officials confirmed later that day that Rivera was dead, and no foul play or suicide was suspected.