'The Good Trouble' star opens up about growing up in the spotlight, new music with COASTCITY and her love for Selena Quintanilla.
Cierra Ramirez has come a long way!
You may remember the Texas native from her early roles on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, The Secret Life of the American Teenager and The Fosters. Now, the 23-year-old actress stars in her own show, Good Trouble, the Fosters' spinoff, and is beyond excited for what her future holds.
In the latest episode of “My Life as a Latina” -- a feel-good, inspiring video series where ETonline showcases powerful Latinas in entertainment -- Ramirez invited ET into her Los Angeles apartment for a candid conversation about the next chapter in her life.
“I’m becoming very comfortable with who I am, and what that means,” Ramirez expressed. “I’m taking it day by day, just to find out the person who I'm going to be. I'm just ecstatic about it and just very positive about the future.”
Ramirez made her TV debut at the age of 10 when she performed a song during the "Apollo Kids Star of Tomorrow" segment of Showtime at the Apollo. Ramirez grew up admiring Selena Quintanilla, and knew that she also wanted to be a performer herself. “She’s just someone that I've always looked up to and being from Texas, and growing up in the Opry world, it was hard not to know her and love her," she shared.
As the years went by, Ramirez continued to pursue her dream, landing parts on Disney Channel and ABC Family (later renamed Freeform) shows, before getting the life-changing role of Mariana Foster in 2013.
“That experience was everything,” Ramirez shared. “I grew up on that show essentially, and that whole cast and crew just really became a family to me. It was a very topical show. Very groundbreaking in its own way. So to be a part of it was awesome and I learned so much. I’m just very happy to have been able to give a voice to a lot of those groups of people.”
Last year, The Fosters ended after its five-season run, but she and her co-star, Maia Mitchell, are now off on their own adventure on Good Trouble.
“[Maia] is the yin to my yang. If you meet us as individuals, we are the complete opposite, but we make so much sense together,” she raved about working with Mitchell. “A lot of people come in and out of your life and I got really, really lucky to be able to continue to work with her.”
Ramirez is also working on an album, which she revealed will be about “love, life and everything in between.”
“I'm really excited about my new project because I think it is a side that people have never seen of me. It's a lot more personal this time and I'm excited,” she confessed. “I’m 23 and I feel like I have some stuff to say for sure.”
Fans will get to hear her new tunes in “early 2019." “I have a whole body of work. I’m kind of in the process of deciding what makes it and what doesn’t,” she shared. “I'm really, really excited. It's a lot different than the stuff I put out before, it's a lot more pop urban.”
Looking back at her career and success, Ramirez gets emotional and is grateful for everything that has come her way. As for what 10-year-old Ramirez would think of herself now?
“I think she'd be really proud,” Ramirez expressed, adding: “This has gone beyond my wildest expectations and dreams. So yeah, I'm pretty happy about that.”
See Ramirez's full interview in the video above. Watch below for what she shared about working with Noah Centineo.
Get more Latinx news on ET MÁS, ETonline's new section featuring the latest celeb, film, TV, music and style news.
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