Sierra McClain’s making big strides in Hollywood by increasingly playing adult roles in TV series

In real life, Sierra is just as passionate about music and playing instruments. The 27-year-old who has been singing her whole life, formerly had a girl group with her two younger sisters called ‘The McClain sisters' which recorded music for Disney's show, A.N.T. Farm. But for now, the rising star is ready to take over the big movie screen.

The Singer-Actress Sierra Aylina McClain grew up watching Disney films and musical classics, and come from an artistic and musical family. her father "Michael McClain" is a famous music producer who produced “Solange Knowles” debut album. Her mother "Shontell McClain" is a songwriter and former screenwriter. In 2004, Sierra became interested in music while she watched her father writing and producing songs. Soon after, she formed a band with her two sisters and began to write songs, choreograph and dance together. In addition to acting, singing, and dancing, all three sisters can play the guitar, bass, and piano. They released their debut single "Go" (2012) and "Feelin' Like" in 2016.

When Sierra made her debut as Nessa on Empire’s season 3 premiere it was clear a star was born. As Nessa took the stage to perform “Need Freedom”, it was hard to take your eyes off her, and she’s only gotten better in the episodes since. In that show, Sierra played Nessa, the newest confident and bold recording artist signed to Empire Entertainment, the show’s record company founded by Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson).

What new fans of Sierra McClain might not know is she’s a triple threat. She’s a singer, an actor, and she plays various instruments, but don’t expect her to choose, even if music was her first love. And because McClain enjoys both, it is fitting that she is on a show like Empire where she gets to do both in almost every single episode. In many ways, the music on the show is a character in and of itself. The music either moves the episode ahead or reflects the plot as a whole or individual character arc. The episodes’ songs are almost always available right after each episode ends, giving the actors and their characters the chance to live outside of the show, as well as in it. “Empire” in many ways, has created a platform for the actors to become as big as the characters they play on TV in the realm of music. “It’s a beautiful relationship between music and acting,” McClain said. “It tells somebody else’s story with songs driving everything. Music is a universal language so to be able to incorporate that in telling somebody else’s story is beautiful, especially when you’re so in love with music. This is one of my favorite jobs because of the marriage between acting and singing.” Sierra said.

In real life, Sierra McClain is just as passionate about music as her character Nessa is. The 22-year-old who has been singing her whole life, formerly had a girl group with her two younger sisters Lauryn and China called ‘The McClain Sisters,' which recorded music for Disney's show, A.N.T. Farm when she was only 10. And when she was 12, the three girls appeared together in their first major big screen movie, Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls.

As a former child actor, she relishes the love and support of her family, especially her sisters, with whom she began her career. But for now, she approaches acting differently as she tries to learn from the people around her and how to trust herself. Because she started out so young, she was focused on knowing her lines and what the director wanted, thus making her roles about other people. Now, she is learning how to step into the shoes of whoever she is playing and create a real character. She now views acting as a collaboration between the actor, the writer, directors, and anyone else who is involved.

Sierra McClain most recently starred in David Fincher’s streaming drama “Mindhunter” and played as “Nessa” in Empire which making her very familiar to FOX audiences. —9-1-1: Lone Star is a drama TV series focusing on the fire, police, and ambulance departments, The series is a spin-off of the television series 9-1-1, and was created for Fox by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear. Set in Austin, it follows Owen (Lowe), a sophisticated New York firefighter who, along with his son (Rubinstein), relocates to the Texas capital and must try to balance saving those who are at their most vulnerable with solving the problems in his own life. And Sierra McClain portrays the role of Grace Ryder, an Austin-based 9-1-1 call center operator and wife of firefighter Judd Ryder (Parrack).