Sarah Hayley Orrantia is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for portraying Erica Goldberg on the ABC comedy series The Goldbergs. She was a member of Lakoda Rayne, a country pop girl group assembled by Paula Abdul during the first season of The X Factor. She released her debut single "Love Sick" in 2015. Her debut EP, The Way Out, was released in May 2019.
Early life
Sarah Hayley Orrantia was born an only child in Arlington, Texas, on February 21, 1994, and grew up in nearby Grand Prairie and Highland Village. She is of English, French, Irish, and Mexican descent. She attended public school from elementary to middle school in her hometown of Highland Village. She then attended Marcus High School in nearby Flower Mound until her junior year, when she decided to become homeschooled to pursue her music and acting training. In high school, she joined the musical theatre program, providing her with her first taste of acting. She is a Christian.
Career
Orrantia began singing at the age of nine and began professionally training at the age of 12. She wrote her first song at 13, and by age 14, she had recorded her first EP of cover songs. That same year, she began writing with songwriter Jamie Houston who at the time was best known for writing hits for the three DisneyHigh School Musical movies. Orrantia recorded the vocals to Houston's "Magic of a Friend" which was on Disney's Tinkerbell and The Lost Treasure soundtrack in 2010. Later that year, Orrantia sang background vocals for Demi Lovato on Disney's soundtrack and background vocals for Miley Cyrus on Disney's Hannah Montana Forever soundtrack. Her first acting role was at age 17, on a commercial for Sprint in 2011. She was cast in the independent film Cooper and the Castle Hills Gang, which premiered at the Dallas International Film Festival. In the summer of 2011, Orrantia auditioned for the first season of The X Factor. Orrantia was selected from a YouTube video submission and received four "yes" votes from the judges during the live audition phase in Seattle, Washington. Although she originally auditioned as a solo artist, during "Hollywood Week", she and three other female singers, were put into a group for the rest of the auditions. They were eliminated during the fifth week in the live shows. Since 2013, Orrantia has played Erica Goldberg on the ABC comedy series The Goldbergs. After casting Orrantia and learning of her singing talent, series creator Adam F. Goldberg has written several episodes where Erica sings. Series co star AJ Michalka is also a recording artist, and the two sing together on three of the tracks of The Goldbergs MixTape, released in 2017. Orrantia had a leading role in the drama filmGod's Not Dead 2, released on April 1, 2016. In 2016, she released a single called "Strong, Sweet and Southern." Its music video has had over 200,000 views on YouTube, as of May 2018. In 2019, she debuted The Way Out, an extended play. It has been described as a "very intimate and personal look at her own life".
