Laura Marano

Laura Marano
Born	November 29, 1995 Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Actress singer songwriter
Years active	2003–present
Relatives	Vanessa Marano (sister)
Website	lauramarano.com
Musical career
Genres	Pop
Instruments	Vocals piano
Labels	Big Machine[1]

External image

Marano at the 2014 Teen Choice Awards

Laura Marano (born November 29, 1995^[2]) is an American actress and singer, best known for her starring role in the Disney Channel series Austin & Ally^[3][4] as Ally Dawson. Marano was one of the five original classmates in Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?. She starred in Without a Trace for three seasons and also Back to You, in both instances playing the daughter of the main characters. Marano starred in the indie film A Sort of Homecoming.^[5] Marano also starred in the 2015 Disney Channel Original Movie Bad Hair Day along with Good Luck Charlie actress Leigh-Allyn Baker.^[6] She currently is signed with Big Machine Records and released her debut single "Boombox" on March 11, 2016. She is also the younger sister of actress Vanessa Marano who currently stars in Freeform's Switched at Birth.

Early life

Marano was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of college professor Damiano Marano and former actress Ellen Marano.^[7] Her father is of Italian descent.^[8] Her mother is the owner of Agoura Children's Theatre.^[9] Marano was first introduced to acting at her mother's theatre. At age 5, Marano began expressing interest in acting professionally to her parents along with her older sister Vanessa, who is also an actress. However, her mother had trepidation about the idea of her daughters working in the tough industry of acting. She took them to one of the strictest talent agents in Abrams Talent Agency in hopes that they would be rejected and then lose interest. To her surprise, the agency wanted both Laura and Vanessa.^[10] From there, Marano began her career.

Marano attended traditional school while she worked, even when she booked a full time job on Austin & Ally, instead of doing school on set. "I go to an actual high school and my friends and everybody there have been so supportive," said Marano. "It's nice when I'm not working to go to that school and be surrounded by really supportive friends."^[11]

Career

2003–2010: Without a Trace and Back to You

Marano's first acting role was when she was five years old.^[12] Since then, she worked for multiple productions at the Stage Door Theater. She has appeared in numerous commercials and had small roles on Ghost Whisperer, Medical Investigation, Huff and Joan of Arcadia. Her bigger roles in television have been in Without a Trace and other shows. She played the child role of Keira Knightley's character in the film The Jacket and had a small flashback role in the film Superbad. She was a regular cast member on the FOX game show, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and played the role of Gracie Carr on FOX's sitcom Back to You. Marano has since appeared in several episodes of The Sarah Silverman Program. Initially she was cast in the pilot episode, "Batteries", as the child version of Sarah Silverman, and the writers liked her so much they brought her back for a larger role as a girl Sarah coaches to win a beauty pageant ("Not Without My Daughter"). On the DVD commentary track, co-star Brian Posehn notes that Marano knew everyone else's lines better than they did. She also appeared in Dexter as the child version of Debra Morgan. She also played the child version of a character played by Diana Scarwid, Alice Shaw, sister of Angela Petrelli, on Heroes.

2011–2014: Austin & Ally

In 2011, Marano starred as Ally Dawson on the Disney Channel series Austin & Ally.^[13][14] In 2013, Marano recorded four solo songs and one duet with Ross Lynch for the soundtrack album Austin & Ally: Turn It Up.^[15] "Me and You" debuted within the U.S. Billboard Kid Digital Songs chart at number thirteen before rising to the sixth spot, spending eleven weeks on the chart.^[16] "Redial" debuted at number nineteen before peaking at number eighteen, spending four weeks on the chart.^[16] Also in 2013, Marano recorded a duet with her Austin & Ally co-star Ross Lynch entitled "I Love Christmas" for Disney Channel's third holiday compilation album, Holidays Unwrapped.^[17] On November 25, 2013, the song was released as a promotional single.^[17] On December 14, "I Love Christmas" debuted within the U.S. Billboard Holiday Digital Songs chart peaking at number fifty.^[18] Marano sings, dances, and writes songs. She hopes to perform in stage musicals in the future.^[19][20][21]

In 2014, Marano voiced as Rachel in four episodes of Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja. She also appeared as Hammu in Fish Hooks and as Fangs in Liv and Maddie. Also in 2014, she appeared in a music video produced for British pop-rock group The Vamps and American singer Demi Lovato called "Somebody To You".^[22] In March 2015, Marano stated that she had signed a record deal with Universal's Big Machine Records.^[1] In the same year, Marano starred in Disney Channel's Original Movie, Bad Hair Day. The film was first released on February 6, 2015 on Disney Channel and had its premiere broadcast in the US on February 13.^[23][24] She also starring as the young version of Amy in A Sort of Homecoming, which tells the story of a girl who returns to her home town in Louisiana from her career in New York City upon request of her high school debate coach. In flashbacks, she recalls her senior year, the politics surrounding debate competitions.^[25] On January 10, 2016, Austin and Ally ended after four seasons.^[26]

2016: Radio, films and debut album

On January 13, 2016, Marano debuted her own radio talk show on Radio Disney titled For the Record with Laura Marano. The weekly one hour show chronicles Marano’s journey as she launches her music career, featuring interviews with a guest star in each episode. The show also provides listeners tips on how one can pursue a career in music.^[27] The show has featured various guest stars including Nick Jonas, Ariana Grande, Meghan Trainor, OneRepublic, and Troye Sivan. The first episode of the show, which aired January 12, 2016, guest starred her co-stars of Austin & Ally. On March 11, 2016, Marano released her debut single called "Boombox" from her upcoming debut studio album. The music video for the single released on April 4, 2016 and accumulated over 6 million views in a week. The video currently holds over 42 million views. It guest stars actor and comedian Ken Jeong, along with his daughter Zooey, and was directed by Cole Walliser. On April 30, 2016, Marano performed the single at the 2016 Radio Disney Music Awards which aired on Disney Channel on May 1. Marano also performed the song on Today as Elvis Duran's artist of the month on May 31. On August 13, 2016, Marano announced that the second single from the album, "La La", would be released on August 25, 2016.^[28]

Philanthropy

In August 2013, Marano has been named the 2013 UNICEF's Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Ambassador, which encouraged children to raise money on Halloween to help children around the world. About the campaign, Laura said "I'm so excited to celebrate Halloween this year by encouraging kids to support UNICEF's lifesaving work. The Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign is a fun, easy way for kids to learn about world issues and to help other kids who are less fortunate."^[29] In August 2014, Marano was ambassador for the Disney and Birds Eye Vegetables campaign 'Step up to the plate'.^[30] The campaign's goal is to encourage children in the United States to explore healthy foods such as vegetables.

Filmography

Film roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Finding Nemo	Additional voices	[31][32]
2005	Jacket, TheThe Jacket	Young Jackie
2006	Ice Age: The Meltdown	Additional voices
2007	Goldfish	Suzy	Short film
2007	Superbad	Young Becca
2015	Sort of Homecoming, AA Sort of Homecoming	Young Amy
2015	Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip	Hotel Babysitter
2017	Lady Bird	Diana Glass	in post-production
2017	The War With Grandpa	Mia	Dimension Films film[33]

Television roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003–06	Without a Trace	Kate Malone	Recurring role (seasons 2–4)
2004	Joan of Arcadia	Emily	Episode: "Night Without Stars"
2005	Medical Investigation	Brooke Beck	Episode: "Tribe"
2005–08	X's, TheThe X's	Scout Y	Voice; main role
2006	Ghost Whisperer	Audrey	Episode: "Friendly Neighborhood Ghost"
2006	Huff	Amelia	Episode: "Black Shadows"
2006	Dexter	Young Debra	Episodes: "Let's Give the Boy a Hand", "Father Knows Best"
2007	Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?	Herself / Judge / Mentor	Season 1
2007–08	Back to You	Gracie Carr	Main role
2007–10	The Sarah Silverman Program	Heather Silverman / Young Sarah Silverman	Recurring role
2008	Ni Hao, Kai-Lan	Mei Mei	Voice; episode: "Kai-Lan's Trip to China"
2008	Gary Unmarried	Louise Brooks	Episodes: "Pilot", "Gary Gets Boundaries"
2009	Heroes	Young Alice Shaw	Episode: "1961"
2009	Little Monk	Cousin Lauren	Episode: "Little Monk and the Monk Cousin"
2010	True Jackson, VP	Molly	Episode: "Little Buddies"
2010	FlashForward	Young Tracy	Episode: "Blowback"
2010	Childrens Hospital	Haley	Episode: "Frankfurthers, Allman Brothers, Death, Frankfurters"
2011–16	Austin & Ally	Ally Dawson	Lead role
2012	Jessie	Ally Dawson	Episode: "Austin & Jessie & Ally All Star New Year"
2014	Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja	Rachel	Voice; recurring role (season 2)
2014	Fish Hooks	Girl Hamster #2	Voice; episode: "Algae Day"
2014	Liv and Maddie	Fangs	Special guest star; episode: "Howl-A-Rooney"
2015	Bad Hair Day	Monica Reeves	Television film[34]
2015	Girl Meets World	Ally Dawson	Special guest star; episode: "Girl Meets World of Terror 2"
2016	Mère et Fille, California Dream	Herself	Television film[35]

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016	For the Record with Laura Marano[36]	Host	Radio Disney

Discography

Soundtrack albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US [37]	US OST [37]
Austin & Ally: Turn It Up	Released: December 17, 2013 Formats: CD, digital download Label: Walt Disney	89	6
Austin & Ally: Take It from the Top	Released: March 31, 2015 [38] Formats: CD, digital download Label: Walt Disney	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Singles

List of singles

Title	Year	Album
"Boombox"	2016	Non-album single
"La La"[39]

Promotional singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions

Title	Year	Album
"Words"[40]	2010	Non-album single
"I Love Christmas"[17] (with Ross Lynch)	2013	Holidays Unwrapped

Other appearances

Song	Year	Other artist(s)	Album
"Poop Song"	2010	Sarah Silverman	From Our Rears to Your Ears[41]
"Shine"	2012	N/A	Disney Fairies: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust
"The Me That You Don't See"	2014		Disney Channel: Play It Loud
"Austin & Ally Glee Club Mash Up"		Austin & Ally cast
"You Can Come to Me"		Ross Lynch

Music videos

List of music videos, showing year released and director

Title	Year	Director	Notes
"Words"	2010	Waldman Entertainment[42]
"Heard It on the Radio"	2012	Matt Stawski[43]	Guest appearance; Ross Lynch's music video
"The Me That You Don't See"[44]	2013	N/A
"Somebody to You"	2014	Emil Nava[45]	Guest appearance; The Vamps' and Demi Lovato's music video
"For The Ride"[46]	2015	N/A
"Boombox"[47]	2016	Cole Walliser[48]	Music video for debut single
"Freya Vs. Ravenna"		Whitney Avalon[49]	Guest appearance; As Ravenna. Princess Rap Battle, YouTube video series
"Miraculous"[50]	2016	Cole Walliser[51]	Music video for Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2014	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Comedy	Austin & Ally	Nominated	[52]
2015	Kids' Choice Awards	Favourite TV Actress	Austin & Ally	Won	[53]
	Remi Awards	Rising Actress	A Sort of Homecoming	Won	[25]
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Summer TV Star: Female	Austin & Ally	Nominated	[54]
		Choice TV: Chemistry (with Ross Lynch)	Austin & Ally	Nominated	[54]
2016	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Female TV Star	Austin & Ally	Nominated	[55]
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Comedy	Austin & Ally	Nominated
	Streamy Awards	Original Song	Boombox	Nominated

References

1. Liz Isenberg. "Kids' Choice Awards 2015: Iggy Azalea Begged Producers to Get Slimed". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
2. "Disney Channel Medianet - Laura Marano bio". Disney Channel. 2012. Archived from the original on February 8, 2012. Born November 29, 1995
3. Erin Hill (November 19, 2013). "'My Favorite Things' with Austin & Ally's Laura Marano". Parade. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
4. "Exclusive: Disney's Laura Marano Shares Secrets!". Hollywood.com.
5. Dave McNary (January 28, 2014). "Laura Marano Starring in 'A Sort of Homecoming' (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
6. "'Bad Hair Day': Laura Marano, Leigh-Allyn Baker to Star in Disney Channel Original Movie". Variety. July 8, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
7. Jeffrey Dransfeldt (January 25, 2009). "Agoura Hills sisters are young stars on the rise". Ventura County Star. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
8. "Interview: Laura Marano". Tommy2.net. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
9. "About Us". Agoura Children's Theatre.
10. http://archive.vcstar.com/entertainment/agoura-hills-sisters-are-young-stars-on-the-rise-ep-372456892-352303971.html
11. "Laura Marano Goes To A Regular High School". Disney Dreaming. April 9, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
12. "Vanessa & Laura Marano Interview - 2012 Teen Choice Awards". clevverTV. July 23, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2013 – via YouTube.
13. ""Austin & Ally," A Comedy About An Unlikely Friendship, Premieres Sunday, December 4 on Disney Channel". Disney Channel. November 1, 2011.
14. Philiana Ng (March 11, 2012). "Disney Channel Renews 'Austin & Ally' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
15. "Austin & Ally: Turn It Up (Soundtrack from the TV Series)". Itunes. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
16. "Artists / Laura Marano - Billboard Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
17. "I Love Christmas - Single by Ross Lynch & Laura Marano". Zobbel. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
18. "December 14, 2013 - Holiday Digital Songs". Billboard. September 8, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
19. Malcolm Lewis Barnes (November 27, 2013). "Teen Star Laura Marano Surprises Students at Leckie Elementary". The Washington Times. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
20. "Hanging With Austin & Ally - Part 5 Laura Marano Interview - Disney Channel Official". April 3, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013 – via YouTube.
21. Sarah Bull (October 5, 2012). "I'd LOVE to be in the Bridget Jones musical!' Austin & Ally star Laura Marano on why she's eyeing up a role in the West End"". Daily Mail. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
22. "The Vamps on casting Laura Marano in their 'Somebody To You' music video: Pressparty". Pressparty. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
23. "Bad Hair Day (Trailer)". Family Channel. February 19, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015 – via YouTube.
24. "April 2015 – A-Z Movies" (PDF). Foxtel. Australia. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
25. "2015 Announcing Best Actor and Actress Nominations for WorldFest-Houston 48th". robly.com.
26. Elizabeth Wagmeister (January 8, 2016). "Disney's Austin & Ally Creators Talk Series Finale, Favorite Cast Memories". Variety. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
27. http://www.bigmachinelabelgroup.com/big-machine-records-recording-artist-laura-marano-to-host-weekly-show-on-radio-disney/
28. Laura Marano [lauramarano] (August 12, 2016). "Laura Marano La La 8.25.16" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
29. "Disney Channel Star Laura Marano Named 2013 Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Ambassador". Looktothestars.org. August 19, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
30. "Laura Marano, from Disney's Austin and Ally, Steps Up to the Plate!". WTSP 10 News. August 27, 2014. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
31. "Austin & Ally Show Bios". Disney Channel Press. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
32. Stephanie Osmanski (May 7, 2014). "13 More Stars You Had No Idea Voiced These Animated Characters!". M Magazine. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
33. "'Austin & Ally' Star Laura Marano Joins Robert De Niro in 'War With Grandpa'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
34. Sara Bibel (January 7, 2015). "Original Movie 'Bad Hair Day' Starring Laura Marano & Leigh-Allyn Baker to Premiere Friday, February 13 on Disney Channel" (Press release). Disney Channel. Retrieved January 7, 2015 – via TV by the Numbers.
35. Antoine Delplanque (February 5, 2016). "Mère et fille, California Dream : la fiction avec Lubna Gourion (Plus belle la vie) et Laura Marano (Austin & Ally)". Toutelatele (in French). Retrieved June 18, 2016.
36. "YEAY: Laura Marano Announces 'For the Record' Radio Disney Show". J-14. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
37. List of Lynch's albums and singles on Billboard:
    • Austin & Aly: Turn It Up: "Ross Lynch - Austin & Aly: Turn It Up [Original Soundtrack]". AllMusic. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
38. "Austin & Ally: Take It from the Top - iTunes". iTunes.
39. "La La by Laura Marano". iTunes. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
40. "Laura Marano – Words". Discogs. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
41. "Poop Song [Explicit]". Amazon. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
42. "Laura Marano- Words (Official Music Video)" – via YouTube.
43. "Disney Channel Heads to the Beach with the World Premiere of 'Heard It On the Radio' Music Video, Friday, July 13" (Press release). Disney Channel. July 12, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2012 – via TV By The Numbers.
44. "Laura Marano - The Me That You Don't See (Official Video)" – via YouTube.
45. "The Vamps - Somebody To You ft. Demi Lovato" – via YouTube.
46. "Laura Marano - For The Ride (From "Bad Hair Day")" – via YouTube.
47. "Laura Marano - Boombox" – via YouTube.
48. Yannick Murgalé. "Laura Marano : l'après Disney avec le single « Boombox »". Aficia (in French). Retrieved April 25, 2016.
49. "Freya Vs. Ravenna Princess Rap Battle" – via YouTube.
50. "Miraculous Ladybug | Laura Marano's Theme Song Music Video | Nick". July 23, 2013 – via YouTube.
51. "Miraculous Lady Bug video Featuring Laura Marano".
52. Philiana Ng (June 17, 2014). "Teen Choice Awards Nominees: Selena Gomez, Austin Mahone and More". Hollywood Life. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
53. Rebecca Macatee (February 20, 2015). "2015 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Honor Nick Jones,Meryl Streep: See the Complete List of Nominees!". E! Online. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
54. "Wave 2 Nominees!". Teen Choice Awards. July 7, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
55. Rebecca Macatee (February 20, 2015). "Kids' Choice Awards 2016 Nominations are in: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Anna Kendrick & More Favorites Named". E! Online. Retrieved August 6, 2015.

External links

• Laura Marano at the Internet Movie Database