Malia Simphiwe Baker (born December 18, 2006) is a Botswana-born Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Mary Anne Spier in the streaming series The Baby-Sitters Club, Gabby Lewis in the television series Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and Chloe Charming in the film Descendants: The Rise of Red and its sequel Descendants: Wicked Wonderland.
She is also starred in What We Hide and Thena in 2025 and Hair of the Bear in 2026.
Early life
Malia Baker was born in Gaborone, Botswana, to a Motswana father and white Jewish-Canadian mother. She moved to Canada when she was 2 and a half years old. She also has a younger sister, Ivory Baker.
Career
2018–2019: Beginnings
Baker made her acting debut in Hope at Christmas, a TV movie in which she was uncredited. She then had her first TV role in an episode of ABC's A Million Little Things. In 2019, she also featured in an episode of The CW's The Flash, as well as appearing in an episode of The Twilight Zone.
2020–present: Breakthrough
In 2020, Baker starred in season 1 of The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix, as Mary Anne Spier. She returned to the role in the second season of the show in 2021, before its cancellation. She also featured in season 2 of Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark?'s second revival series. Baker also featured in the Lifetime TV movie Caught in His Web. She was then cast in the Disney+ film Descendants: The Rise of Red, as well as the Miramax dramedy Harvest Moon. She was also cast in Spider & Jessie, later retitled as What We Hide, and in the drama Thena. Baker starred in the indie drama Hair of the Bear, which she was also an executive producer.
She defended Catherine Hernandez's novel Scarborough in the 2022 edition of Canada Reads.
Filmography
Film
†Denotes films that have not yet been released| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Hope at Christmas | Malia Weir | Uncredited role | |
| 2022 | Caught in His Web | Olivia | ||
| 2024 | Descendants: The Rise of Red | Chloe Charming | ||
| Wickedly Sweet: A Descendants Short Story | Short film; Voice role | |||
| 2025 | Shuffle of Love: A Descendants Short Story | Short film | ||
| What We Hide | Alexis | |||
| 12 Hours | Jasmine | Short film | ||
| 2026 | Hair of the Bear | Tori | Also executive producer | |
| Descendants: Wicked Wonderland | Chloe Charming | |||
| TBA | Harvest Moon † | Bella | Post-production | |
| TBA | Thena † | Lotus |
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 | |
| 2021 | Are You Afraid of the Dark? | Gabby Lewis |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora | Woai | Voice | |
| Ahari |
Discography
Albums
Soundtrack albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Descendants: The Rise of Red |
|
| Descendants: Wicked Wonderland |
|
Other charted songs
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Love Ain't It" | 2024 | Descendants: The Rise of Red |
| "Fight of Our Lives" | ||
| "Life Is Sweeter" | ||
| "Get Your Hands Dirty" | ||
| "Life Is Sweeter (Remix)" |
Awards and nominations
| Award | Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children's and Family Emmy Awards | 2022 | Outstanding Younger Performer | The Baby-Sitters Club | Nominated | |
| Kids' Choice Awards | 2022 | Favorite Female TV Star (Kids) | The Baby-Sitters Club / Are You Afraid of the Dark? | Nominated | |
| Leo Awards | 2022 | Youth Performance | The Baby-Sitters Club | Nominated | |
| 2026 | Best Lead Performance | Hair of the Bear | Nominated |
