Cierra Ramirez Talks Intense School Shooting Episode & New EP Read the Q&A! Celeb Secrets

If you watched last week’s season four premiere of The Fosters, you know it was a rough one. If you didn’t here’s what you missed.

The hour-long episode raised awareness to gun violence almost three weeks after the tragic murder of Christina Grimmie and mass shooting at PULSE Nightclub in Orlando, FL. The school went into a “Code Blue” lockdown when it was discovered that Mariana’s boyfriend Nick showed up with his father’s gun after seeing her kiss her ex-boyfriend Mat. It really shined a light on what one needs to do if you are ever caught in a similar situation.

The drama continues on tonight’s episode when tensions are still running high in the Adams Foster household after given the “OK” to leave school. Still fragile and skittish from the school lockdown, the family sticks close, but their secrets keep them apart. Callie and Brandon anxiously wait for their moms to address their behavior in Idyllwild while Stef warns everyone to stay off their phones and computers due to the rumors swirling around their family.

Celeb Secrets caught up with Cierra Ramirez a few days after the season four premiere and talked all things from the Orlando shooting to her new music. She opened up about what it was like filming the two-part episode, fan reactions, and the love triangle between Mariana, Mat, and Nick. We also asked Cierra about her new EP and what it was like working on it for the past year — make sure to read the full Q&A below!

The Fosters returns with a new episode tonight, June 27th @ 8PM ET/PT on Freeform.

Celeb Secrets: I was catching up on The Fosters the other day and the premiere episode this Monday was pretty intense.

Cierra Ramirez: “Very.”

Celeb Secrets: How’d you feel when you found out you’d be filming a school shooting for the episode?

Cierra Ramirez: “It was honestly frightening for me and it’s weird because the scenario that Mariana ends up finding herself in is something that’s always been a fear of mine. Growing up, you know, going to school, I always feared that we would get that drill and I wouldn’t be in a classroom and no one would let me in. It’s great that they shine light on what needs to happen in that kind of situation, but I mean, to live vicariously through it, it was just, it was intense and terrifying.”

Celeb Secrets: I mean, it did raise a lot of awareness. I would never know what to do, so watching that episode really helped me out too.

Cierra Ramirez: “Yeah, they pointed out a lot of different things. I didn’t know that if the shooter were to enter a room to throw anything that you can at him. Yeah, it’s good to make people aware.”

Celeb Secrets: Were you nervous at all about fan reactions, especially with what happened in Orlando a few weeks ago?

Cierra Ramirez: “Definitely, but I mean, I think that’s something that I really love about this show is that it touches topics that might be hard to talk about, but they’ve always been on top of current events. I mean, unfortunately, this happened but with the supreme court ruling, the legal marriage and then this happening, I mean, it’s heartbreaking, but like I said, it needs to be talked about, and it’s not really on the air, so to have that voice and just put that out there, it’s amazing.”

Celeb Secrets: I have to say you did do a fantastic job on Monday, so how did you get into that mindset when you were filming?

Cierra Ramirez: “Well, like I said, it was always a fear of mine and to just kind of be in that world and to just picture and imagine myself in it, it was – the writing is amazing. If the writing is there, then it’s just so easy, but yeah, just picturing myself in that situation, just brought on the waterworks.”

Celeb Secrets: What can fans expect from Monday’s upcoming episode? Is there anything in store for that Mariana and Nick and Mat triangle?

Cierra Ramirez: “Well, this is the first time we’ve ever done a two-part episode or premiere and this is really exciting to kind of continue this intense story with an even more intense episode. I’m not kidding, this next episode is going to be crazy. It is going to continue on with the love triangle, but you’ve seen in the previews that Nick’s been hiding out in the Foster house, so we’ll see how long he stays hidden.”

Celeb Secrets: Without giving too much away, who’s going to be the one that’s most affected by these events in Monday’s episode?

Cierra Ramirez: “I think that everyone is going to be affected in a certain way. They all kind of lived through the trauma. Both the moms had to live, you know, imagining what would happen if they didn’t have one of their kids and Jesus was best friends with Nick. Everyone kind of has their own little way of responding to it, and yeah, they’re all going to be affected, but I mean, Mariana especially.”

Celeb Secrets: Will the whole family learn about Callie and Brandon’s night together or will the moms kind of keep that a secret because that was a really big thing that was revealed in Monday’s episode too.

Cierra Ramirez: “Right, no definitely. I mean, as of right now, I think that, you know, they want to keep it a secret, but you never know. You know how secrets don’t last very long in the Foster household, so we’ll have to see.”

Celeb Secrets: I hear that you did release an album really recently, which is super cool. What can you tell us about it?

Cierra Ramirez: “I did. Thank you. It was really fun. It was a long time coming. I’ve been kind of working on it for over the past year. It was just a blast to put out. I mean, it was originally how I got into acting and it’s been kind of cool to play with that on the show, I kind of was introduced as Juliet with the musical, so if fans didn’t know that I was a singer before they did through the show, and so to, you know, kind of come out with my music shortly after was just amazing, and I’m really happy. I’ve been getting some positive feedback, so I’m really happy.”

Celeb Secrets: We are Celeb Secrets, so I want to know a secret about when you were making this record, because you were making it for quite some time, that people would not know when they’re listening to the EP.

Cierra Ramirez: “Well, I mean, every hour I would probably have to Postmates food (laughs). It kept me going. Postmates is my best friend (laughs), but just to get me through. It’s a lot different than filming. I mean, filming can get pretty long, but I mean, you’re not using your voice and singing over and over again. Yeah, food fuels me, and so yeah, Postmates was my best friend throughout the process.”

Celeb Secrets: And did you write most of the music?

Cierra Ramirez: “No, I worked with some great writers – Lilia Harin and Damon Sharpe and Dylan Holland who all have songs on the album. It’s been really fun. The one thing I think was missing from my EP is something personal, so getting into my LP, which is going to be coming shortly after my first album, I’m going to get really deep into the studio and put out something personal, so I’m really excited about that.”

Photos: Eric McCandless/Freeform

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