Malia Baker: How “The Baby-Sitters Club” Series and True Friendships Offer Comfort During Troubled Times
From an early age, Malia Baker and her mother shared a love for The Baby-Sitters Club book series, and years later, the teen actress re-read the books to prepare for her audition as Mary Anne Spier on the new Netflix series.
The 13-year-old Vancouver native, who has kept busy reading, trying new hobbies, and keeping in touch with her co-stars, (and new BFFs), during COVID-19, is thrilled that her show that debuted on July 3 is a multi-generational hit.
Fans are overjoyed that The Baby-Sitters Club (BSC) series, which tells the classic story of five middle-school friends and their inventive babysitting business, has returned in a Netflix reboot because the time is ripe for this heartfelt family-friendly modern take on Ann M. Martin’s beloved bestselling Scholastic book series of the same name.
One aspect of the 10-episode first season of the show that Baker loves is that it is all about “girl power” as well as the deep bonds of friendship.
The show focuses on what started out as a sweet little business venture to help take care of neighborhood children and blossoms into so much more. These include lifelong tight-knit female friendships, sharing secrets, boy troubles, protective parents, and teen angst, in addition to the many rites of passage that help us find our way during adolescence and beyond.
Baker, a ninth-grader, began acting classes one year before auditioning for the role of Mary Anne during a Netflix search of North America. She has also appeared in the ABC series A Million Little Things, the CW show The Flash, and the Hallmark TV movie Hope At Christmas.
The leading ladies of BSC include Sophie Grace as Kristy Thomas, Momona Tamada as Claudia Kishi, Shay Rudolph as Stacey McGill, Xochitl Gomez as Dawn Schafer, and, Malia Baker as Mary Anne Spier.
Each of the girls has distinct personality traits and, like real-life girlfriends, they show their weaknesses and strengths while helping one another get through life.
Baker reveals that she is an avid reader, loves art, English, and science, especially biology, and hopes to continue to pursue an acting career, while also making a positive mark on society.
Medium’s Authority Magazine caught up with Baker on her BFFs on and off the set, her passion for improving the world, and why these books the original Netflix series are perfect for these unpredictable times.
So, who is Mary Anne on The Baby-Sisters Club? We know that her mom died when she was little and she has an overprotective dad. She has been kind of gawky and coming into her own. How did you see her in the beginning and as she has evolved?
Well, in the beginning, she’s this shy little girl pretty much, and throughout the series, she comes out of her shell and she becomes a leader in her own way. She becomes assertive, and she becomes her own boss, and she lives by her own values. And we can see that transform while you’re watching the series.
Please tell me more.
I thought it was fun to portray that while I was playing the part because of all the girls I related to Mary-Anne the most when I was growing up because I was a shy kid and I wanted so badly to come out of my shell. I feel like she’ll be such a good role model for so many young girls out there who are trying to come out of their own shell.
Have you ever been a babysitter?
Yes, I am a babysitter. I did my babysitting course in grade six, where we learned all these crazy things that I didn’t think I needed to know about while I was babysitting, like how to handle internal bleeding. It kind of freaked me out at the beginning. I babysat for my little sister, who is 10, and her friends and some other kids who live around the block.
How else do you relate to Mary Anne’s coming-of-age story which so many girls can identify with?
It was so great watching her becoming a leader, especially in the last two episodes when she is at Camp Moosehead. I loved playing that and I feel like a lot of girls will be able to look up to her for that.
How did your non-actor friends react to the finished series?
My friends have been super supportive throughout this whole thing. We held this little watch party and two of my closest friends came to it. We watched the show and they were all so excited for me. I’m just so happy that they’re as excited as I am.
How quickly did you and the other actresses become good friends?
Oh, my goodness, we clicked right away. We were at our final audition when we were told that we were chosen for The Baby-Sitters Club, which is super rare. So, beforehand we were all sitting next to each other talking to each other. We completely clicked on every level. We had similar interests and we loved the BSC, and are close friends. I’m so grateful that I get to work with these amazing girls.
Do you keep in touch with your co-stars?
We keep in touch through various group chats on iMessage, through chats on Instagram. Since we met, we have continued to talk, text, or chat with each other at least a hundred times a day.
What did you love about making the show, and then also about the finished product?
I love knowing all the little behind the scenes things watching the completed series. I was hearing myself think like, ‘Oh, I remember that. That’s when Shay had to suck on ice cubes to make sure that her breath wouldn’t show.’ And all these little sneak peeks that people don’t really know about.
What is the set like? Can you paint a picture, take me behind the scenes and help me feel like I was there?
Being on the set was so much fun, everyone on set was so lovely. Most of the time we would just re-roll it because we either didn’t get that as we quite wanted it, or we were laughing because most of the scenes are very funny to film and it’s such an experience to all of us. We went to crafty (craft services) quite a lot, crafty all the time, which is this little food tent outside of the set and there are all these little snacks. That was the place where we were most at home where we were making jokes, laughing. And if we weren’t there, we were up in the schoolroom doing our school work in between takes.
Since you mentioned you were shy, who or what gave you the confidence to pursue acting?
Well, so I was a dancer. I still am a dancer, and so I had performed in that way. And I feel like that transition into acting made it a little easier for me because I’d already been able to perform in front of people. I feel like acting is such a different technique and such a different style than theater is.
Everyone is waiting for an announcement from Netflix about Season 2 of the show, but I take it that all of you want to do it if it is renewed?
Yes, very much.
The fans love this show and many moms are watching it with their tween or pre-teen daughters and have become nostalgic for their own slumber parties and boy issues. What does this outpouring of fan support mean to you?
Oh, my goodness, it makes my heart so happy because it was such a passion project to be in it, and all these people worked so hard. It was a dream to make this possible, and I’m just so excited that people are loving it as much as I do.
Your mom gave you some of the Baby-Sitters Club books for your audition, can you talk about that?
When I was younger my mom had always referred to herself as being like the character Dawn, and I was confused and asked her who Dawn was.
So, I grew up reading the books, and discovering all these amazing characters, and being able to relate to so many in so many of the different situations. When I got the audition for Mary-Anne, it made it 10 times more exciting because I had already been so familiar with these characters. And Mary-Anne was the person I related to the most.
I hope that the takeaways are that these are all young entrepreneur feminists that are finding their selves throughout the series. And the thing is that they’re all sticking together and they’re supporting one another. When Ann M. Martin created the original book series, I found out that it’s just this group of women supporting women. And I think that’s so amazing, especially that she created that in that era.
Not to downplay the fears, illness, and death, but is there a silver lining for yourself from spending more time with your family during this health pandemic?
Yes. I found that this is a very good time to make societal change occur. This is an intergenerational moment. We should be getting back to the basics of humanity and caring for each other. Reflecting is one thing that I feel like my family and I have been doing throughout this whole thing. Seeing what we can do for our environment, seeing what we can do for our community, and what we can do to prompt change. I feel like that’s something that we should all be focusing on during these really weird and crazy times.
I loved that not only are these girls funny, adorable, and quirky, but it brought me back to when I was a preteen and a teen. The fact that they were so levelheaded during emergencies and handled things so well was impressive. So, talk about how they stepped up so well, especially during emergencies.
They definitely stepped up. The characters do all these amazing things. They use their resources. They find confidence and abilities to care for others. They rise up to the occasion for sure. I find that with Mary-Anne, especially in episode 4, she uses her voice. That’s the episode where she really is able to be confident in herself. Not only for herself, but for another little girl.
Had you known about the work of Alicia Silverstone, who plays Kristy’s mom Elizabeth on the show? And what is she like to work with?
Yes, I have watched Clueless, like 100 times. I remember the first time I watched it, it was on repeat for quite a few hours. I have admired Alicia Silverstone’s work, and Clueless is an iconic movie that we all kind of know and love, but she was so amazing to work with. I remember the first time that she came to set, we were at the cafeteria, and she was there. She was like, ‘Oh, that looks so good, can I try some?’ And I was just completely star-struck. I held out my plate and she goes, ‘Oh, thank you.’
Alicia is such a lovely person to work with. She is really passionate about using her voice to advocate for the wellbeing of our planet and animals. I found that it was such an inspiration seeing her in action; especially during the wedding scene where she walks down the aisle, she looked like an angel. It was so cool.
What do you hope are the takeaways or messages from the show and from the characters?
I hope that the takeaways are that these are all young entrepreneur feminists that are finding their selves throughout the series. And the thing is that they’re all sticking together and they’re supporting one another. When Ann M. Martin created the original book series, I found out that it’s just this group of women supporting women. And I think that’s so amazing, especially that she created that in that era.
What else is involved?
Well, now with all these various forms of diversity and situations that are happening these days, I feel like it’ll make it even more relatable and sincere to the audience watching it. So, I hope what people take away from this show is that it is powerful, it’s empowering, it’s for young feminist entrepreneurs. It is this show that everyone can watch that has something for everyone, and we all really need to support one another.
You are 13 years old now. If we talk again when you were 20 or 25, what do you hope to be doing?
It’s every actor’s dream to win an Oscar, isn’t it? But more than that I really hope to be doing everything. I hope that I’m using my voice to advocate for change, for the well being of humans and this Earth. I hope that I am pursuing my passions and really creating a career that I love and want people to look up to. I also hope that I’m inspiring others.
Try to reach out, try to make change happen. Advocate for what you believe in, and just really keep your mental health good. Try to go outside once a day, drink some water, make sure that you’re eating good enough, exercising. Make sure that you’re okay; that’s the most important thing. And that you’re safe, happy, and healthy.
In addition to homework, when you’re taking a break from set or work or whatever, are you streaming any TV series? What are you and your costars sharing about your lives?
I found out on the set while we were taking breaks, we were at crafty a lot, so we would just make little jokes. We were all really in the moment and we’re all very grounded people. So, I was really grateful because I have never been super attached to my phone, and all those girls weren’t really attached to their phones either.
But when we were taking breaks, we would sometimes go into our trailers and we would watch these old movies from our childhood while eating. And if not that, we would just hang out with each other, not making small talk. Sometimes we would talk about the random-est things, like conspiracy theories, what we want to do in the future. I miss them endlessly.
Are you surprised at how well it’s doing? Or could you tell, or could anybody tell it would be so successful?
Yes, the creators of the show seemed pretty confident about how it was going to be received. I remember when we all got our parts and our first day on set, we were all just kind of talking, and then it finally hit us. The creators were talking about their ideas and their plan, and the cast and I were just like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a huge thing.’ We had not realized how big this was going to be.
What is your advice be to a teenage girl reading this? Someone who loves the series and maybe going through a difficult time. Since we are all missing our friends and our lives before COVID-19.
It’s been pretty crazy. Especially for a young teen girl, I feel like it’s even crazier because you’re going through everything right now. So just remember that you will be okay, this is only going to be temporary. This isn’t this long-term thing. Well, kind of, but this isn’t forever. You have people that support you.
What else would you advise?
Try to reach out, try to make change happen. Advocate for what you believe in, and just really keep your mental health good. Try to go outside once a day, drink some water, make sure that you’re eating good enough, exercising. Make sure that you’re okay; that’s the most important thing. And that you’re safe, happy, and healthy.
Who gave you some sage advice that’s been helpful to you during tough auditions or schoolwork or anything else and what was the advice?
I remember my mom telling me that I used to get very stressed. By nature, I’m a very anxious person, so I remember during self-tape auditions where I wanted to be perfect and I wanted to get it perfect. She told me that there is no such thing as perfect and that’s okay. It’s been a societal construct that people have created and it’s not real. So just try to do your best, that’s all you can give. Make sure that you’re really passionate about something, and that will keep you safe, happy, and healthy.
Season One of The Baby-Sitters Club is currently streaming on Netflix.
