Malia Baker
J-14: Tell us about The Baby-Sitters Club! What it’s about in your own words?
Malia Baker: The Baby-Sitters Club is about a group of girls who decide to put their babysitting skills to use and it becomes quite the business. The club faces real-life obstacles and challenges as a team of best friends and great baby-sitters.
J-14: Can you each tell me about your character? Who do you play?
Malia: I play Mary Anne Spier, who is the secretary of the club. She has a lot of inner dialogue and is funny without realizing that she is. She is a dreamer who is shy with a benevolent warm and accepting nature. Mary Anne is being raised by her overprotective but caring dad and she loves her friends more than anything!
J-14: Do you relate to your character at all?
Malia: Deep down I am a shy person, but I’m able to overcome that while acting. I’d like to think I’m humorous and others tend to think so as well. I love my friends so dearly and am a dreamer as well. So yes, I relate to Mary Anne quite a lot.
J-14: Any fun behind-the-scenes stories you can share from on set?
Malia: There was this one scene where my castmate Xotchil and I were having some trouble with our lines. We had to go down a staircase and put on a bunch of layers while trying to say our many paragraphs of dialogue. We kept trying to hype each other up, but after a bit, everyone took five. We went outside with our Training Assistant Director and were rehearsing. We didn’t want the scene to sound unnatural so we decided to switch it up by using British, and what attempted to be Scottish and Australian accents. I just remember us laughing our heads off, including our TAD, and when we were called back on set we got the scene right away!
J-14: What’s your favorite scene from the show?
Malia: I loved filming the first scene of the BSC meeting mainly because I got to touch the phone while we weren’t filming. I was weirdly fangirling over that phone and got excited every time it lit up. I also really loved filming the first scene Mary Anne did with Dawn. It was so fun to get to work with my best friends!
J-14: Do you get along with your costars when the cameras stop rolling? Are you guys close?
Malia: Even though we spent almost every day together on set, we also wanted to spend every moment we could off of set. I have definitely found my chosen sisters and we have become our own little family. We talk almost every day now that everyone has gone back home and we all cannot wait to see each other again!
J-14: I know this is based off of a popular book series, did you read those books when you were younger? What was your reaction when you found out you were joining the new show?
Malia: I definitely read the books when I was younger, partly because my mom kept referring to herself as being a Dawn, so I wanted to know who the heck she was. When I found out I got the BSC I was in shock and I still am. It’s crazy to think that this is all real and not a dream!
J-14: Do you feel any pressure to star in something that so many people read as a kid?
Malia: Well, I didn’t before, but now that you ask I’m starting to! No, I feel really honored to be playing such an iconic character from the fabulous books and am so happy that it already has a huge platform.
J-14: Tell us some fun facts about yourself that not a lot of people know!
Malia: I have a VERY wide range of music that can sometimes be annoying because I can’t ever make up my mind what to listen to! I have been dancing since I was two years old and have loved it ever since. I had a chronic pain syndrome when I was in grade four that left me unable to walk for six months, but we are all good now. I might have an obsession with my cat, fuzzy socks, movies and ice cream, but let’s just say I don’t. I love pizza but it has to be good because if it’s not good, then I’m not good. Lastly, if you catch me on a day where I don’t have anything super important, I will 1000 percent be wearing sweatpants because, why not?!
