Cierra Alexa Ramirez (born March 9, 1995) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for playing Mariana Adams Foster in the Freeform television series '' The Fosters'' and reprising her role in the spin-off series '' Good Trouble'', which she also co-executive produced with co-star

Maia Mitchell Maia Mitchell (born 18 August 1993) is an Australian actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Brittany Flune in the children's television series '' Mortified'' for the Nine Network, and as Natasha Ham in the Seven Network's teen drama ...

. Her

accolades The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) ( la, benedictio militis) was the central act in the rite of passage ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more generally to ...

include an

ALMA Award The American Latino Media Arts Award or ALMA Award, formerly known as Latin Oscars Award, is an award highlighting the best Hispanic and Latino Americans, American Latino contributions to music, television, and film. The awards promote fair and ...

, an Imagen Foundation Award and a

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

nomination.

Early life

Ramirez was born on March 9, 1995 in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Her father, Sonny Ramirez, was a

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and her mother, Cris Ramirez, was a kindergarten teacher. Ramirez was raised in

Sugar Land, Texas Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around th ...

and attended Westside High School for two years before moving to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. She graduated high school through a home-school program to allow her to pursue her acting career.

Career

Music

Music led to Ramirez making her television debut—when she was 10 years old, she performed a song the "Apollo Kids Star of Tomorrow" segment of ''

Showtime at the Apollo ''Showtime at the Apollo'' (formerly ''It's Showtime at the Apollo'' and ''Apollo Live'') is an American variety show that first aired in syndication from September 12, 1987 to May 24, 2008. In 2018, the series returned on Fox with Steve Harvey h ...

''. Ramirez is signed to Empire and Tribeca Music Group. She has performed as the opening act for a number of musical acts, including

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Ruben Studdard Ruben Studdard (born September 12, 1978) is an American singer and actor. He rose to fame as winner of the second season of ''American Idol'' and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2003 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his recording of ...

. On June 20, 2016, Ramirez released her first EP ''Discreet''. Her singles subsequently followed her first EP: "Faded" Feat. Baeza in 2017. In 2018, Ramirez released the first single “Bad Boys” off of her debut album, Over Your Head, which was released February 28, 2020. Singles that followed “Bad Boys” were; “Liquid Courage (Love Me Better)", "Broke Us" Feat. Trevor Jackson in 2019 and “Over Your Head” in 2020. Music videos for the singles "Faded", "Bad Boys", "Liquid Courage" and "Broke Us" were released. "Liquid Courage (Love Me Better)", "Broke Us", and “BBU” were directed by

Maria Skobeleva Maria Skobeleva is a filmmaker. Filmmaking Maria Skobeleva began her filmmaking career directing commercial films and music videos. She has since directed more than 200 music videos for Russian and American artists. Maria's commercial clients ...

Acting

In 2007, Ramirez played a recurring role on the Disney Channel series ''

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' is an American sitcom created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan. The series aired on Disney Channel from March 18, 2005, to September 1, 2008. The series was nominated for an Emmy Award three times and was also ...

'' as Jasmine, a young camper with anger management issues. Ramirez played recurring character Kathy in ''

The Secret Life of the American Teenager ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (often shortened to ''Secret Life'') is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton. It aired on ABC Family from July 1, 2008 to June 3, 2013. The series received mixed to some ...

'', introduced in the 100th episode as a pregnant freshman. Ramirez had her film debut in the titular role for the 2012 feature film ''

Girl in Progress ''Girl in Progress'' is a 2012 American drama film directed by Patricia Riggen, written by Hiram Martinez, and starring Eva Mendes, Matthew Modine, Patricia Arquette, Eugenio Derbez, and introducing Cierra Ramirez as Ansiedad Gutierrez. The film ...

'', for which she won an

for Favorite Movie Actress Supporting Role. Starting in 2013, Ramirez played Mariana Foster in the ABC Family (renamed " Freeform" channel) series '' The Fosters''. Her character is a straight-A student who, with her fraternal twin Jesus, has been adopted by a lesbian couple into a multi-ethnic blended family. The show premiered on June 3, 2013, and in January 2017, Freeform announced that it had been renewed for its fifth season. However, according to

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

, the series would be cancelled after a three-night limited series on June 6, 2018, to be followed with a spin off, '' Good Trouble'' premiering January 9, 2019, featuring Ramirez and

Personal life

She is of Colombian and Mexican descent.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other appearances

Music videos

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Cierra 1995 births Living people American people of Colombian descent American actresses of Mexican descent American musicians of Mexican descent American child actresses American child singers American film actresses American television actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Houston People from Sugar Land, Texas 21st-century American singers Hispanic and Latino American actresses Hispanic and Latino American musicians Hispanic and Latino American women singers