Proud of being Filipino-American, she is of Spanish-mestizo descent. "People ask me, 'Are you Spanish?' … I say I have Spanish in me but I'm not just Spanish. I'm proud of my ethnicities and I will always be proud of being a Filipino." According to a message board on her official website, Lalaine is also of "a little Chinese" ancestry.

Career Lalaine is normally credited by her first name only. She is commonly known for playing "Miranda Isabella Sanchez" on Disney Channel's highly-rated show, Lizzie McGuire, alongside Hilary Duff. She reprised this role on the pilot of a spin-off series, Stevie Sanchez, about Miranda's younger sister, but this did not air in 2005 as originally expected and appears to be shelved indefinitely.

Lalaine's road to stardom began when she was hanging out with Nikki Alberto and she found a job at the Broadway production of Les Miserables. In it, she played Cosette.

When Lalaine returned to California, she acted in several television commercials, including some of those for Microsoft and Burger King. She also participated in a theater play in her home state, called Brundibar.

Lalaine's voice has been used for many movies, including Inspector Gadget and Lolita. She also played orphan "Kate" in the Disney Channel version of the movie Annie. She starred alongside AJ Trauth in the Disney Channel original movie You Wish as "Abby." Lalaine also portrayed "Chloe," a young Slayer-In-Training who commits suicide, on the hit TV-Series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In addition to her acting career, Lalaine is involved in many charity events, such as the AIDS benefit concert and *NSYNC's challenge for the youth.

In 2003, Lalaine released her independent album, "Lalaine: Inside Story". Lalaine wrote six songs on the album herself, including "Life is good","Can't Stop", and "Save Myself". She has been working with Radio Disney, performing her songs all over Southern California, and went to Hawaii with Disney's Imagineers. For six months Lalaine's song "You Wish", written for the movie of the same name, was in the Top 30 Radio Disney songs. She has signed a records deal with Reprise records. Her new single is "I'm Not Your Girl." The video can be watched at either AOL Music or Yahoo! Launch.

In 2004, Lalaine went to Philippines and made guestings in the GMA Network including the SOP Gigsters and she was linked to Filipino celebrity Richard Gutierrez of Mulawin. She also began hosting her own Filipino travel show Flipside, where she travels around the islands. She also promoted GMA Pinoy TV in San Francisco, California in 2005. She has also been linked to her good friend, Ricky Ullman of Phil of the Future.

Lalaine is currently writing her new record with various writers including Glen Ballard, Oliver Leiber, Danielle Brisebois and others.