Francesca Reale was born in Los Angeles, California, to Lisa and David Reale. She was raised as a competitive gymnast for 12 consecutive years at the Los Angeles School of Gymnastics. In addition to gymnastics, Francesca danced for six years and spent a year learning circus acrobatics. She attended the Academy of Music at Hamilton High School and during her time there won a National Youth Arts award for best original choreography. Francesca began seriously acting in 2012 at Santa Monica College. After a year, she transferred to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and began her training at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute.
