Malia Baker was born in ​​Botswana, South Africa, and raised in Vancouver, Canada. She made her acting debut in “Hope at Christmas,” a TV film she was not credited with. “I was an extra. This one girl got a pink eye, and thank God she did, because I was chosen to fill in for her. And there I was, two lines in. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, thought it was gonna be my big break. It was not. But my kindergarten teacher came up to me afterward, and she said, ‘I saw you in the Hallmark movie,’ which was just so sweet,” she said.

The 17-year-old reveals that her mom gave her a one-year deadline. If she could book a bigger gig, she’d be able to continue acting. “It’s because she's a single mom,” Baker explains to BET. “I have a younger sister and we were both doing a ton of activities. The city was an hour away and that's where all the auditions were held.”

Baker did not let up as she became obsessed with the field. In 2020, she starred as Mary Anne Spier in season one of “The Baby-Sitters Club” on Netflix. Before its cancellation, she returned to the role in the show's second season in 2021. She also featured in season 2 of Nickelodeon's “Are You Afraid of the Dark?’s” second revival series and the Lifetime TV movie “Caught in His Web.” She was cast in her most recent film, the Disney+ musical fantasy “Descendants: The Rise of Red,” released Friday (July 12).

In the movie, the fourth in the “Descendants” franchise, the daughters of the Queen of Hearts and Cinderella travel back in time to prevent a coup in Auradon Prep. The cast includes Brandy and Paolo Montalban, who played versions of their characters in the 1997 television adaptation of “Cinderella,” Rita Ora, China Anne McClain, and more. “I played Chloe Charming. I'm the daughter of ‘Cinderella,’ played by Brandy, and Prince Charming, played by Paolo Montalban,” Baker says. “She's a people pleaser. She's a perfectionist. She's learning a lot about herself. She’s blue until the day she dies. She loves glitter and playing sports. She learns a lot throughout the entire film about who she is, and how she defines black and white and what's good and what's wrong. I think a lot of kids can look up to her because I know I have, as I've gotten to know her better over the years.” 

Baker reveals that she couldn’t believe she was allowed to work beside Brandy. “She's incredible. I was a huge fan going into it. Still am coming out of it,” she says of the R&B singer-songwriter. “It's always a bit of a tedious, daunting idea of working with someone that you really, really, really admire because it can go so wrong so quickly, if you know that possibility is there. But she is everything you want her to be and more. She is the sweetest soul. She's so nurturing. She was singing on set all the time. It was like going to a free Brandy concert every time. I can't have anything to say, but the highest regards to her.” 

The actress also adds that Montalban was one of her favorite cast members to work with on that set. “I mean, all my castmates are so, so lovely. If I had to say anybody, keeping it in the family line, I'd say Paolo, who plays my dad. He is so sweet,” she says. “He still DMs me. And he’s like, ‘You're doing amazing. You're really going to be the next role model for the five-year-olds.’ He comments on my posts and always hypes me up, which is just so lovely. He's a theater nerd, and I am, too. So we're able to talk about anything and everything.”