Cast finds alter-egos in classic characters
The teens who star in the new Netflix series adapted from “The Baby-Sitters Club” books didn’t grow up with the novels, so they had to get creative about learning the stories.
The five girls — Sophie Grace, Malia Baker, Momona Tanada, Shay Rudolph and Xochitl Gomez — talk with the wisdom of women three times their age and the wideeyed optimism of girls, well, their age.
These teens, all 13 or 14, weren’t alive when the Ann M. Martin book series debuted in 1986.
“My mom had always referred to herself as being a Dawn, because she grew up with the books, and I was always so confused because I was like, ‘Who the heck is Dawn?’” Baker, who plays bookish Mary-Anne, told the Daily News.
“So I did my research and I stumbled upon ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ books and fell in love right away,” Baker said. “I hit the jackpot when I found a bunch of books in the garage and they’re one of my favorite book series to this day.”
The characters are still so relatable 34 years later, that the actresses can see themselves in just about all of them.
Baker is “a Mary-Anne,” but sees her bossiness in Kristy. Rudolph, who plays boy-obsessed Stacey, finds similarities in “Claudia and Dawn and Stacey.” Gomez is less political, but still a Dawn. Tanada says she’s artistic like Claudia with a bit of Stacey mixed in.
Grace’s family pegged her as Kristy as soon as she got the audition.
“I am such a feminist and I think it’s so important to have a bold personality and share your ideas,” the 14-year-old told The News. “My personality is very Kristy but I found that my interests are kind of everyone. I love, love, love art like Claudia, I love nature and plants and gardening like Dawn, I really like the kindness and vulnerability that Mary-Anne always showed and, of course, I’m huge on fashion so I definitely related to Stacey in that sense, but I always liked Claudia’s style more.”
Her introduction to the books came courtesy of her sister.
“My oldest sister had a whole collection of the books that my grandma had given her,” she said. “We have almost a 10-year age difference so it was really awesome for her to pass them down and share it with me and my other sister. It was something we could bond over. I felt so cool, 6-year-old Sophie reading the same books as my 15-year-old sister.”
In 2020, more than three decades after fans first connected with its fictional members, “The Baby-Sitters Club” girls are cool again.