Naya Rivera began her acting career at the age of 4. She was part of television shows like The Royal Family, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, The Bernie Mac Show, The Sinbad Show, Baywatch and Girlfriends. She tasted fame with her TV show Glee where she played a lesbian teen. She later made her feature film debut in 2014’s At the Devil’s Door and released the single “Sorry” in 2013, featuring rapper Big Sean, a one-time fiance. 20th Century Fox TV and Fox Entertainment said in a statement, “Naya Rivera was a fierce talent with so much more to do and this is such a terrible tragedy. We are forever grateful for the indelible contribution she made to Glee, from the first episode to the last.”

“Honestly, I never thought I’d actually be playing a teen lesbian,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 2011. “I didn’t think it was going to go this far. But I’m glad that it did, because there have been a lot of fans who have expressed that they’ve been going through similar situations in their lives. I’ve heard from girls that are in high school, they’re 16, 17, and they’re like, ‘I came out to my mom,’ or ‘I came out to my friends, and thank you for helping me do that’,” she added.

Naya Rivera was recently seen in Lifetime’s Devious Maids. She also released her memoir in 2016 and played school administrator Collette Jones in the YouTube Red online series Step Up: High Water starring Ne-Yo.