Malia Baker of Netflix’s The Baby-Sitters Club is making positive waves in the industry and proving that not only do girls rule, but they are doing so with amazing natural hair.
The talented Vancouver-based teen, who portrays Mary Anne Spier in the series, sat down with Hype Hair in a recent interview to talk about her passion for social justice, activism, her new series, natural hair, and more. Take a look at a snippet of her interview below.
HYPE HAIR: What drew you to Netflix’s The Baby-Sitters Club and the Mary Anne character?
MALIA: What drew me to The Baby-Sitters Club was the fact that I had already known and loved the book series so much! I was drawn to Mary Anne because it showed a Black girl just existing, living and growing. To see a kind, shy, coming of age girl, who I looked up to and related to so much as a young Black girl, was terrific. She’s relatable, and I genuinely feel that audiences enjoy growing with her. There are so many women I have heard from that say they needed a Black Mary Anne when they were growing up, and it just makes my heart so happy!
HH: How do you relate to Mary Anne? How do you two differ?
MALIA: Mary Anne and I can be very similar. We are both dreamers with a warm and accepting nature who love our friends more than anything! She is also a leader in her way, and I am too.
HH: Throughout the series, we see Mary Anne come into her own and develop her own sense of style and self-awareness. How did it feel going through this evolution of the fictional character?
MALIA: Going through Mary Anne’s evolution felt a lot like my own, and I know that it was similar to many other people out there. I am a shy person deep down, of course, I can overcome that while acting, but seeing Mary Anne stand up for not only herself but the transgender girl that is being misgendered at the hospital felt empowering! You can see such a drastic difference from the beginning of the series compared to the end, and I loved being able to experience that arc!
HH: How have you undergone your own style and beauty transformation throughout your teenage years?
MALIA: I have definitely found myself more curious about different styles and hair-dos over the last year. I used to wear my hair up in a slick bun all the time, but I now do all these funky hairstyles, including wearing my curls out big and proud. I would also say my style has changed in clothing over the years. I am not afraid of wearing something with patterns or trying something new anymore!
HH: How would you describe your preferred beauty routine and day-to-day sense of style?
MALIA: My preferred beauty routine seems to be on more of the natural side, but every now and then, I will put on a neon liner just to add something! My day to day sense of style is all over the place; it really depends on what the mood of the day is. One day I’ll be feeling like streetwear, and the next, I’ll be feeling like I want to go on a cottage core picnic, haha!
HH: When did you start to really love your natural hair?
MALIA: I really only started feeling comfortable with my hair when we started filming BSC because it is the first place I felt accepted as just me, hair included. I had always worn super slick buns because I did ballet daily, so it was convenient. But truthfully, I just was not as comfortable in it because I felt it would stand out too much in my community. Above all, I did not want people touching my hair – horrors! I now wear my hair big and curly all the time because I realized standing out can be so empowering!
Want to read it in its entirety, click here. We cannot wait to see what the future holds for Malia. We have a feeling that the sky is the limit.
