#INTERVIEW: MALIA BAKER ON “HAIR OF THE BEAR”

By Mr. Will Wong

Canadian breakout star Malia Baker continues to stamp herself as one to look out for, building a very devout fanbase in both Disney‘s Descendants film franchise, and also Netflix’s The Baby-Sitters Club. We last chat with the 19-year-old Actress, and now Producer in 2021. While the world has continued to change, Baker‘s fanbase has continued to grow.

She stars next in Alexandre Trudeau‘s (yes, that Trudeau) new Manitoba-filmed Thriller HAIR OF THE BEAR, which has Baker both serving for the first time as a Producer, while also starring in the leading role as Tori. She finds herself and her grandfather caught in a deadly cat-and-mouse game after she witnesses a murder.

We are delighted to catch-up with the personable and eloquent Baker on her press tour for HAIR OF THE BEAR, spread over two days, culminating in an Advance Screening at Paradise Theatre.

We asked a few questions, including:

•What producing a film for the first time has taught her

•How Baker’s experience navigating Anxiety informed her character Tori here

•What’s ahead in 2026, including a double-feature year that includes the release of Disney‘s DESCENDANTS: WICKED WONDERLAND

•What advice she’d give her character Mary Anne from The Baby-Sitters Club

Highlights from the Chat:

@mrwillwong We chat with the amazing Malia Baker about her latest film, HAIR OF THE BEAR, a cat and mouse Thriller in theatres 3.6.26. We chat about #DescendantsWickedWonderland #MaliaBaker #theBabysittersclub ♬ Suspense – Olati souza & Italo souza

HAIR OF THE BEAR hits theatres in Canada March 6, 2026, and will stream soon on Crave.

(Photo/video credit: See More Films Entertainment/Mr. Will Wong)

#INTERVIEW: MALIA BAKER AND MOMONA TAMADA ON “THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB SEASON 2”

By Mr. Will Wong

The second season of Netflix’s THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB is right before us after having won much acclaim for its faithful adaptation to its source material, an internationally-adored Series of Novels by Ann M. Martin, but with a relevant modern twists! The Series centers on five middle-schoolers who start a babysitting business.

We had the incredible pleasure of chatting with stars Malia Baker who plays Mary Anne and Momona Tamada who plays Claudia. On the topic of pets, Tamada just celebrated her puppy Miso’s first year anniversary with her. We learned that Baker has what she calls a “jungle” in her home with a cat and two dogs, Asher and Jellybean. Jellybean, she tells us is “a lot to handle” but Tamada appears to handle her very well!

We ask Baker and Tamada what we can expect of Mary Anne and Claudia in this second season.

Baker: I feel our characters go through such an arc, Mary Anne in particular. She goes through a big arc in the first season. At the end of the first season she’s directing a play and starring in it which is super out-of-character for her and the character we got introduced to. And we see her being a leader in her own way throughout the first season. I feel like that progresses in the second one which I’m so excited for you guys to see. We’re in that middle school arena trying to figure out who you are, and we’re all just growing as young, powerful women. It’s really cool to see without a sob story behind. It’s all of us having fun being best friends!

Tamada: Claudia in the first season you see her as a super-cool girl who has everything together, she’s just so bold and awesome. I think this season we get to see this different side of her a little bit more. A raw and vulnerable side which people wouldn’t expect and I think people can really look forward to see the little rollercoaster Claudia goes on this season as she discovers new things and learns new things from others. It’s very beautiful, her character arc.

In episode seven of Season Two, we witness a very beautiful, intimate scene between Mary Anne and Claudia which fans will be so touched by. We ask about filming this special scene.

Tamada: Sharing a scene with Malia it was so incredible. We are very, very close in real life as well, so that just added so much to it. While performing that scene, I tried to keep it as fresh as possible. Prior to it, I tried not to read it a ton of times as I tried to ensure my authentic emotions were in the scene because it is a bigger emotional, involved one. It was a magical experience.

Baker: What Momona says, sharing the scene with her was such an incredible thing to shoot. Our Director is so understanding the way we wanted to do it. He was able to ask us questions and we were able to give authentic answers that produced the best quality content for everyone. And I feel we were able to do that.

I remember the Table Read, it was online, but I remember Momona get all teary and I was like “Oh my God!”. It was awesome, I love the Series so much and that scene in particular.

Part of what makes this Series so amazing is the fun fashion. We ask Baker and Tamada which characters they’d love to swap wardrobes with.

Baker: Definitely Claudia.

Tamada: If I can’t pick Claudia, I’d say Stacy or Dawn. Dawn has some very cool Hipster-like pieces in her wardrobe I’d love! I really enjoy looking through all their wardrobes.

More from our Chat below:

The second season of THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB arrives on Netflix October 11, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)