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Malia Simphiwe Baker (born December 18, 2006) is a Botswana-born Canadian actress. She is better known for her roles as Mary Anne Spier in the streaming series The Baby-Sitters Club,[1] Gabby Lewis in the television series Are You Afraid of the Dark?,[2] and Chloe Charming in the film Descendants: The Rise of Red[3][4] and its sequel Descendants: Wicked Wonderland.[5]

She is also set to feature in Harvest Moon,[6] What We Hide,[7] Thena,[8] and Hair of the Bear.[9]

Early life

Malia Baker was born in Gaborone, Botswana to a Tswana father and White Canadian mother. She moved to Canada when she was 2 years old[citation needed]. She also has a younger sister.

Career

2018–2019: Beginnings

Baker made her acting debut in Hope at Christmas, a TV movie in which she was uncredited.[10] She then went on to have her first TV role featuring in one episode of ABC‘s A Million Little Things, a family drama television series created by DJ Nash.[11][12][13] In 2019, she also featured in an episode of The CW‘s superhero television series, The Flash.[12][13] As well as appearing in an episode of The Twilight Zone.[13][14]

2020–present: Breakthrough

In 2020, Baker starred in season 1 of The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix, as Mary Anne Spier.[1] She returned to the role in the second season of the show in 2021, before its cancellation.[15][16] She also featured in season 2 of Nickelodeon‘s Are You Afraid of the Dark?'s second revival series.[2] Baker also featured in Lifetime TV movie, Caught in His Web.[14] She was then cast in the Disney+ film Descendants: The Rise of Red,[3][4] as well as Miramax dramedy Harvest Moon, co-written and starring Paul Bettany.[6] In addition, she was also cast in Spider & Jessie, later retitled as What We Hide, alongside Mckenna Grace, and Dacre Montgomery,[7] and in drama Thena.[8] Baker is about to star in the Indie Drama Hair of the Bear as Tori, which she will also executive produce.[9]

She defended Catherine Hernandez‘s novel Scarborough in the 2022 edition of Canada Reads.[17]

Filmography

Film

Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released
Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2018 Hope at Christmas Malia Weir Uncredited role [10]
2022 Caught in His Web Olivia [14]
2024 Descendants: The Rise of Red Chloe Charming Lead role [3]
Wickedly Sweet: A Descendants Short Story Short film; Voice role [18]
2025 What We Hide Alexis [19]
Shuffle of Love: A Descendants Short Story Chloe Charming Short film [20]
12 Hours Jasmine Short film
2026 Hair of the Bear Tori Lead role; Also executive producer [9]
Descendants: Wicked Wonderland † Chloe Charming Lead role [5][21]
TBA Harvest Moon † Bella Post-production [19]
TBA Thena † Lotus [19]

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2019 A Million Little Things Little Girl Episode: “Someday”
The Flash Alice Bolen Episode: “Time Bomb”
The Twilight Zone Young Anna Episode: “Blurryman”
2020–2021 The Baby-Sitters Club Mary Anne Spier Main role [1][15]
2021 Are You Afraid of the Dark? Gabby Lewis [2]

Video games

Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2023 Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Woai Voice [22]
Ahari

Discography

Albums

Soundtrack albums

Title Album details
Descendants: The Rise of Red

Other charted songs

Title Year Album
“Love Ain’t It” 2024 Descendants: The Rise of Red[23]
“Fight of Our Lives”
“Life Is Sweeter”
“Get Your Hands Dirty”
“Life Is Sweeter (Remix)”

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
2022 Kids’ Choice Awards Favorite Female TV Star (Kids) The Baby-Sitters Club as Mary Anne Spier & Are You Afraid of the Dark? as Gabby Lewis[24] Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b c “What you need to know about ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ stars before watching on Netflix”. Los Angeles Times. 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  2. ^ a b c “Malia Baker On Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark: ‘The Adults Who Watched The Original Series Can Pass This Down To Their Kids’“. www.cbsnews.com. 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  3. ^ a b c “Malia Baker, Rita Ora, Brandy, & More Join Descendant Spin-Off, The Pocketwatch”. BeautifulBallad. 2022-11-21. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  4. ^ a b Petski, Denise (2022-11-21). “Brandy & Rita Ora Among 7 Cast In ‘Descendants’ Sequel ‘The Pocketwatch’ At Disney+”. Deadline. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  5. ^ a b Nellie Andreeva (February 25, 2025). “‘Descendants 5’ A Go: Kylie Cantrall & Malia Baker Return, Liamani Segura & Kiara Romero Among New Cast Additions”. Deadline.
  6. ^ a b Kroll, Justin (2021-10-11). “Paul Bettany To Star In ‘Harvest Moon’ For Miramax; Carmen Ejogo, Candice Bergen And Cary Elwes Also On Board”. Deadline. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  7. ^ a b D’Alessandro, Anthony (2022-10-03). “Mckenna Grace To Lead ‘Spider & Jessie’ With Jesse Williams & Jojo Regina Also Starring In Opioid Drama”. Deadline. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  8. ^ a b Gold, Peter, Thena (Drama), Will Peltz, Izabel Pakzad, Malia Baker, Gold Films, retrieved 2023-06-03
  9. ^ a b c Grobar, Matt (2024-02-26). “Malia Baker To Exec Produce, Star In Indie Drama ‘Hair Of The Bear’“. Deadline. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  10. ^ a b Hope at Christmas (TV Movie 2018) – IMDb, retrieved 2023-06-02
  11. ^ Moore, Camille (2020-06-30). “10 Things You Didn’t Know about Malia Baker”. TVovermind. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  12. ^ a b Women (ICRW), International Center for Research on (2021-01-05). “A conversation with Actress Malia Baker”. Medium. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  13. ^ a b c “Malia Baker: Movies, TV, and Bio”. www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  14. ^ a b c “Caught In His Web’s Malia Baker Describes Her Career Goals – Exclusive”. The List. 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  15. ^ a b “‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ Cancelled After Two Seasons at Netflix”. Collider. 2022-03-12. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  16. ^ Porter, Rick (2022-03-11). “‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ Canceled at Netflix”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  17. ^ “Meet the Canada Reads 2022 contenders”. CBC Books, January 26, 2022.
  18. ^ “Disney Channel and Disney Jr. Celebrate Halloween With Festive ‘Monstober’ and ‘Disney Jr. Trick or Treats’ Programming All Season Long”. Disney General Entertainment Content. September 23, 2024. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
  19. ^ a b c “Malia Baker”. IMDb. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  20. ^ Kelsie Gibson (February 12, 2025). “Disney’s New Descendants Short, Shuffle of Love, Has a Twist That Completely Changes Everything for the Franchise (Exclusive)”. People.com.
  21. ^ Petski, Denise (2025-04-02). “‘Descendants 5’ Production Is Underway – See New On-Set Cast Photo”. Deadline. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  22. ^ “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora / Details”. Metacritic. December 7, 2023.
  23. ^ a b “China Anne McClain & Kylie Cantrall Perform “What’s My Name (Red Version)” From Descendants: The Rise Of Red Soundtrack In New Music Video”. Disney Plus Press. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  24. ^ Ryan Gajewski (April 9, 2022). “Kids’ Choice Awards: Spider-Man: No Way Home Wins Big; Dr. Jill Biden Speaks”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 9, 2022.