The actress is looking forward as her Freeform series airs its fifth and final season.
After portraying Mariana Adams Foster for over a decade, Cierra Ramirez isn't ready to put the character to rest. Speaking with ET's Deidre Behar, the Good Trouble star calls the Freeform series' upcoming finale "bittersweet" but says she's looking forward to fans seeing what the cast and crew have in store for their final season.
"There's been a wave of emotions. It's been truly a roller coaster, I am hitting all of the stages of grief," the star and executive producer says of the show's ending. "Right now I am just feeling so grateful to have been a part of this journey and to be able to tell these stories. It's the end of an era. It's very bittersweet, but I really am excited about this new season that we have in store for fans and I really hope that they enjoy the closure that we are going to bring them."
The spinoff series followed The Fosters characters Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Mariana (Ramirez) as they moved to downtown Los Angeles after graduation and navigate love, sex, and the complicated relationships that come with living in a new city in your 20s. Ramirez and Mitchell led the cast, alongside Tommy Martinez, Emma Hunton, Sherry Cola, Zuri Adele, Beau Mirchoff, Josh Pence, Priscilla Quintana and Bryan Craig.
The series returned to the small screen on Jan. 2, picking up after the dramatic conclusion of the first half of the season and following the friends of the Coterie as they encounter the highs and lows of adulthood. Despite the unexpected cancellation, the cast and crew have been given the opportunity to film additional scenes to properly wrap up the series in a supersized series finale.
Although Ramirez plays coy when asked about what fans can expect as Mariana's journey comes to a close, she does share that viewers can anticipate a time of "growth" for the MIT alum.
"You are seeing a lot of growth within Mariana; she has been through it all and she just recently had a breakthrough that I feel like was a long time coming," she shares. "I think that once she kind of starts putting herself first for once, some things are really gonna shift in her life, and so I am really excited."
She adds, "This journey with her has been so amazing, and seeing the person she has grown into has been such an honor, so I am really proud of her this season, and I think that a lot of people will be too."
While many fans are hungry to hear how the character's "tangled" love life will play out in the final season -- and Ramirez promises that Mariana makes "a choice" about that -- the most enduring relationship throughout both series is the one between the sisters, Callie and Mariana. It's a bond that transcends the show and replicates the deep friendship between the actors.
"She's my bestie and she's away right now in another country living her best life and I'm just rooting for her from the sidelines," Ramirez says of Mitchell, who officially made her exit in season 4 of Good Trouble but returns for the final season. "I feel like I'm kind of the stage mom for her, I'm like, 'Yes, yes do this!'"
Ramirez tells ET that she and Mitchell always "pick up where we left off" when she returns from Australia. "She is so supportive of me and I go to her for any advice that I need; it is a sister situation for sure," she adds, noting that the cast loves it any time Mitchell returns for a guest spot on the series.
"It's funny because I feel like Mariana and Callie are like the yin to each other's yangs but I feel like Mariana always needs her for certain situations and Callie always knows when to show up. It's like a sixth sense that they have," she says of the characters' sisterhood.
Unsurprisingly, the same could be said on the actors' real-life friendship, especially as Ramirez steps into her "fianceé era."
In September, Ramirez took to Instagram to reveal her engagement to musician Othrsyde, also known as Jonathan Zallez. The stunning revelation came in the form of a heartfelt post featuring a series of photos and a video capturing the proposal that unfolded.
This proposal was orchestrated as a surprise for Ramirez by her friends and, most notably, by Zallez. The couple -- who have been together since 2019 -- were surrounded by loved ones for the special occasion.
Telling ET that she couldn't have "imagined a better proposal," Ramirez gushes about her future husband's thoughtfulness in preparing the scene. "I'm telling you, he's so thoughtful [and] it was perfect. I was not expecting it [although] it was a conversation we had had," she recalls.
Even her mother had been in on the plan, getting the actress to dress her best by telling her they were doing a family photo shoot for her grandmother. "We're not a photo shoot type of family so I didn't question it, I was like, 'All right, weird but OK, I'm down.'"
"I think I really truly blacked out the entire time, I just remember saying yes and everyone popping out," Ramirez quips. "It was amazing."
And being engaged has been the most fun Ramirez has had. "It's probably the most favorite era I've ever had," she gushes of life now. "It's been so fun and my fiancée, Jonathan, is just, he's my world."
The couple, who recently bought a house together, have not begun planning their wedding but Ramirez says it's been fun creating their life together. "It's been such a blast, a lot of big things have happened this year and I'm just grateful for it all. It's been a wild, wild year."
The actress has ideas for the big day -- like wanting a DJ that plays "some Drake, some Bad Bunny [and] some old school Spanish songs for my family," and asking Mitchell to be a bridesmaid -- but she's taking the time to enjoy creating a home with Zallez.
As for her career now that Good Trouble is ending, Ramirez has ideas for that as well.
"I've always wanted to do a rom-com. I feel like that could be really fun," she tells ET. "But overall, you know, something that I'm taking with me that I loved and [what] really drew me to both The Fosters and Good Trouble is being part of something that is bigger than who I am and helps get conversations started. So anything that does that is something that I would really love to be a part of."
Good Trouble airs on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST/PST on Freeform and the next day on Hulu.
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