Malia Baker Interview by Carol Wright Photographer: Britney Gill Photography Styling Credit: Leila Bani Hair: Tania Becker Make-Up: Emily Cheng
Malia Baker is making her mark as an up-and-coming rockstar in young Hollywood. Playing an iconic character in the Netflix series The Baby-Sitters Club, Baker brings the classic, best-selling book series to life through her portrayal of Mary-Anne Spier. Her character explores modern themes of family, friendship and community, all while seeking to find her identity and voice in the world, mirroring Baker’s own journey into the entertainment industry. Growing up as a dancer, you probably had to perform often. Did this make the transition to acting easier? I do think that the transition made it easier since I was performing for each one. I found that dancing was a little more nerve-wracking because you only had one shot! Acting is more, as I like to say, nerve-xciting! You getting cast as Mary Anne in The Baby-Sitter’s Club gives Black girls the chance to see themselves in the BSC universe. Was that something that you thought about when originally auditioning for the role? When I got the audition, I was of course freaking out from the beginning. My mom and I were totally spinning out of control with excitement, but I found that it was so amazing that they made Mary Anne into this Black character because I loved the books and growing up, I didn’t see any Black girls on television with curly hair and all. Oftentimes we see Black girls made to straighten their hair to look more acceptable and I’m so happy to play a small role in just that touchpoint for young girls. When Mary Anne in episode four takes down her hair from her braids and finally we see her curly hair, I feel that’s such an important moment and I’m so grateful that I got to be a part of that and a part of that experience for the next generation that’ll hopefully grow up watching the series.
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Are there similarities between you and your character Mary Anne? Yes, for sure. I mean all of the girls, we’re honestly so much like our characters. Mary Anne and I are very similar. We both love musicals. I’m a shy person deep down I do admit that, so seeing Mary Anne find her voice and especially for another person is so amazing. I think it will inspire other girls to step out of their shells and use their voices for good. I feel that Mary Anne and I are funny without even knowing that we are. So we both have very similar characteristics. The episode “Mary Anne Saves the Day” is a turning point for Mary Anne because she has to use her voice in a big way. What was it like filming that episode and did you feel more connected to Mary Anne after that? I definitely felt more connected to Mary Anne as a character when I was filming that whole episode. I found that I got to connect with her on a deeper level, especially that scene where she says, “I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for being who I am.” I found that I related to that a lot because as girls (specifically young girls) we are taught to say sorry for pretty much everything and I think it was so inspirational and so amazing to see that Dawn was just like, “It’s ok. If you think that you’re that way that’s ok. Who am I to tell you otherwise?” During that whole episode, I feel that I fell in love with Mary Anne even more than I did before.
