Everyone who reads the Baby-Sitters Club wants to be Claudia Kishi. She’s a super cool and creative artist, has her own phone line in her room, and rocks a funky sense of style with a wardrobe that would rival any magazine’s fashion closet. But Momona Tamada, a 13-year-old actress and dancer from Vancouver, is the lucky one who actually got to be Claudia, playing her onscreen in Netflix’s adaptation of the famed book series. “Claudia really is just very free,” Tamada says of the BSC Vice President. “She does whatever she wants and doesn't care about what other people think.”
Tamada says when she first discovered the book series in grade school, she felt like more of a Mary Anne—the shy, bookish club secretary—but playing the role of Claudia emboldened her confidence. “I don’t really identify as a Mary Anne anymore because I’m not as shy and I think [playing] Claudia influenced a lot of that,” she says. “I would have never imagined myself being able to portray Claudia, but now I am.” And seeing Tamada's interpretation of the iconic character onscreen will likely inspire viewers to find their inner Claudia, too.
Here, Tamada talks about how her character bucks stereotypes, how young people can and should fight for change, and Claudia’s fantastic fits (yes, she got to keep some of the clothes!).
On getting cast
“I got into the industry two years ago, when I was 11, by auditioning for an agency. I started by going to dance auditions, but then they started sending me to acting auditions, too. In dance, you express yourself through your movement. Acting is very different, but it came natural to me because I’ve always been into expressing my emotions in different ways—that’s why I fell in love with acting right away.
“When I got an email saying I was going to be auditioning for the Baby-Sitters Club reboot, I was super excited because I’d read the books. It was a video audition and I felt really good about it. Then I got a call back; it was over Skype with some of the creators of the show. Shortly after that, I was flown to Los Angeles to read with a bunch of other girls who were reading for different characters.
“We felt an instant connection; even before we went into the room together to audition, we were all talking to each other and running lines. At the end, they told us they messed up our tape and we had to do it again. So we went back in and after we finished doing our retake they were like, ‘Oh, here's one last thing to tell you guys, you're the cast of the Baby-Sitter's Club.’ And all of us just froze and screamed. I remember Xochitl [Gomez, who plays Dawn Schafer], the first thing she said was, 'We're going to Canada,' and that's something I will never ever forget.”
On bonding with the cast
“These girls are, like, my best friends on screen and off screen, which is so incredible. [During filming], we were always hanging out with each other; we would work Monday to Friday, and then hang out with each other on weekends. Now, we still have a group chat going, and we're always, always, talking on it. We're always FaceTiming each other too, and finding fun new ways to communicate.
“If there are good reviews, or cute fan edits, we send them to each other. All of us are just trying to believe that this is real. We're always talking about that; on set, we'd be like, ‘Wow, this is actually happening. This is really crazy.’ Now that the show is out, it's starting to feel more real, but it still feels like a huge dream.”
Momona Tamada, a 13-year-old actress from Vancouver, plays Claudia Kishi in Netflix’s Baby-Sitters Club.
On playing Claudia Kishi
“She is a huge inspiration to me because she broke a lot of stereotypes with Asian characters. A lot of people are probably not good at school and they felt like they didn’t fit in because they didn’t fit that certain stereotype. Claudia breaking that was something a lot of people loved because they heard and saw themselves in her story.
“It’s so cool to see and hear how people connect to Claudia. She really is a huge part of people’s lives and I don’t think I recognized when I was reading the books how much she impacted people’s childhoods. They have so much love for her and basically grew up with her.”
On dressing the part
“Every fitting was so much fun. [Costume Designer] Cynthia Summers, she's incredible and makes things a blast. It almost didn't even feel like three hours, the fitting went by so fast.
“Claudia's style has influenced my style a lot. Before, I didn't really wear anything all that exciting, just kind of normal casual clothes. But throughout shooting, I saw myself looking at new pieces and she inspired me to go to thrift shops. I didn't love thrift shopping before, but during shooting, I fell in love with it because I noticed it's better for the environment, it's much cheaper, and it showed me that you don't have to spend, like, thousands of dollars on clothes when you can find everything second-hand. You just have to really think out of the box to put outfits together. A lot of the pieces you find are one of a kind.”
Tamada says she loves hearing from fans who love her character: "It’s so cool to see and hear how people connect to Claudia."
On protesting onscreen
“I think it’s so cool [how the first season ends with Claudia and Dawn staging a rally against inequality at their summer camp]. Obviously it's not as big as the protests we're seeing now, but I like that the episodes show younger generations that your age doesn’t really matter—you have a voice and you should really think about using it. I feel like kids have so many strong, important ideas and so much potential. Showing what kids can do in those episodes sets a great example.”
On playing a young Lara Jean in To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You
“I loved the first movie—it was one of my favorites—so working on P.S. I Still Love You was just so…I still can't even put into words how incredible the experience was. I looked up to Lana Condor a lot, even before I auditioned for the role. Meeting her was super inspiring to me.”
On her future
“I am hopeful for a season 2 for The Baby-Sitters Club, of course. It's hard to tell the future, especially in this industry, because there's so much stuff going on. But I'm so excited to, hopefully, continue my career in acting because I love it so much. And I'm always up for a challenge, so I'd love to like venture out in different genres of acting. Something I haven't done before would be lots of fun.”
