Vanessa Baden-Kelly
Born
Vanessa Jennifer Baden

(1985-09-08) September 8, 1985
Manhattan Beach, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, writer, director, producer
Years active1994–present
Spouse
RJ Kelly
​
(m. 2013)​
Children1

Vanessa Jennifer Baden-Kelly (/ˈbeɪdən/; born September 8, 1985) is an American actress, writer, director, and producer. She is best known as a child actress in the Nickelodeon television series Gullah Gullah Island (1994–1998) and Kenan & Kel (1996–2000). In 2017, she starred, co-wrote and co-produced the web series Giants, executive produced by Issa Rae.[1] In 2019, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance in Giants.[2]

She was the executive story editor and writer for season 1 of The Sex Lives of College Girls.[3]

Early life

Baden was born in Manhattan Beach, California, and raised in Satellite Beach, Florida, where she got her start as a model in print ads.

In 2004, she won the Florida District Miss Black and Gold Pageant, representing the Iota Delta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at a regional competition in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida in December 2007 with a degree in sociology.

Career

Baden began her career as a child actress on television; her first major role was as Vanessa in the Nick Jr. television series Gullah Gullah Island. Following this, she portrayed Kyra Rockmore for more than 60 episodes of the teen sitcom Kenan & Kel, which also aired on Nickelodeon.

In 1997, she played a supporting role in the film Rosewood and served as a panelist on the children's game show Figure It Out. This was followed by a year-long hiatus from acting.

In 2011, Baden returned to the screen as Hope in the YouTube comedy series Fail, opposite King Bach. In 2012, she starred as Erin Mult in the television film Chris & Todd. In 2014, she played opposite Jenifer Lewis in the comedy feature film Secrets of the Magic City, directed by R. Malcolm Jones.

Since 2017, she has starred, co-written, and co-produced the web series Giants, which streams on Issa Rae's YouTube channel.[1] She plays Journee in the series. Her performance in Giants garnered her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in 2018, and a win in 2019.[2][4]

Baden also works as a writer and producer; she co-wrote and co-produced several episodes of Giants,[1] and has also written for The Huffington Post.[5]

In May 2021, Baden's essay collection, Far Away from Close to Home: A Black Millennial Woman in Progress [6] will be published by Three Rooms Press.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1994–1995 My Brother and Me Janey TV series; 3 episodes
1994–1998 Gullah Gullah Island Vanessa TV series; 50 episodes
1996–2000 Kenan & Kel Kyra Rockmore TV series; 27 episodes
1997 Rosewood Lee-Ruth
1997 Figure It Out Herself / Panelist TV series
2011–2012 Fail Hope TV series; 6 episodes
2012 Franchise Cameo Short film
2013 Chris & Todd Erin Mult TV film
2014 Secrets of the Magic City Tracey
2017–2018 Giants Journee Web series; 13 episodes; also writer and producer
2019 Soap Central Interviewee TV series

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Vanessa Baden Kelly of 'Giants' on Millennials Leading the Mental Health Conversation". Rebellious Magazine. February 26, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Giants Cleans Up at Daytime Emmys, Takes Home Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Supporting Actor". The Grapevine. May 6, 2019. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  3. ↑ "The Sex Lives of College Girls (TV Series 2021– )", IMDb, retrieved September 12, 2023
  4. ↑ "THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES NOMINATIONS FOR THE 45th ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY® AWARDS | The Emmy Awards - The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". emmyonline.com. Archived from the original on March 30, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  5. ↑ Kelly, Vanessa Baden (September 26, 2015). "Why I Support Michael B. Jordan and Not Internet Hype". HuffPost. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  6. ↑ Kelly, Vanessa Baden (May 4, 2021). Home is the Mouth of a Shark: Essays. ISBN 978-1953103024.
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