Malia Baker

Botswana and Her First Contract in Vancouver

Malia Baker was born in Botswana at the end of 2006. His family moved to Canada shortly after, and it was in Vancouver that he began frequenting audition rooms. In 2018, he landed his first TV credits with brief appearances in A Million Little Things and The Flash.

Her entry into the industry was not the result of an aggressive marketing strategy. It was a natural progression for a young girl looking for a place in Canadian storytelling. In 2019, she appeared in The Twilight Zone (the version produced by Jordan Peele), and that allowed her to understand how large film sets operate.

And her bet on streaming paid off.

In 2020, Baker landed the role of Mary Anne Spier in Netflix's adaptation of The Baby-Sitters Club. She was thirteen when she took on the responsibility of playing a character that millions of readers already had in their minds. The production stood out for its contemporary approach, but the platform decided to cancel the project after two seasons.

Baker did not get stuck in the child-actor mold. In 2021, she used her visibility to get involved with social justice and civil rights platforms. But her priority remained genre film and productions with heavier dramatic weight.

Moving to the Disney Machine and Independent Film

In 2022, she starred in the TV movie Caught in His Web, directed by Hannah Cheesman. It was a project shot under post-pandemic conditions that explored the dangers of online harassment. The experience helped her move away from purely teen roles.

In 2024, Baker joined the cast of Descendants: The Rise of Red to play Chloe Charming. The production required twelve weeks of physical and vocal training before the main shoot began. It is a project with an estimated budget of 70 million dollars that aimed to revitalize one of Disney's most profitable franchises.

But Baker's interest also shifted toward art-house cinema.

During 2023, she shot the independent drama Spider & Jessie on location in Florida. In this film she shares the spotlight with Jojo Regina, and her performance moves away from the saturated colors of her earlier work. Dan Kay's script pushed the actress to explore much rawer registers of vulnerability.

Baker wrapped her role in the film Harvest Moon, directed by Cathal Nally. Filming took place entirely in 2021 under strict safety protocols. The movie's script was co-written by Paul Walter Hauser, and the final cut came in at a running time of 98 minutes.