Vanessa Jennifer Baden-Kelly (; 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 co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in the web series Giants, executive produced by Issa Rae. In 2019, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance in Giants.
She was the executive story editor and writer for season 1 of The Sex Lives of College Girls.
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. 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.
Baden has also written for The Huffington Post.
In May 2021, Baden's essay collection, Far Away from Close to Home: A Black Millennial Woman in Progress, was published by Three Rooms Press.
Filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released
Film Year Title Writer Director ExecutiveProducer Actor Role Notes 1997 Rosewood Lee-Ruth 2012 Franchise Cameo Short film 2014 Secrets of the Magic City Tracey 2017 Other Short film
Television Acting credits Year Title Role Notes 1994–1995 My Brother and Me Janey 3 episodes 1994–1998 Gullah Gullah Island Vanessa/Vixen Main role 1996–2000 Kenan & Kel Kyra Rockmore Main role 2011–2012 Fail Hope Recurring role 2013 Chris & Todd Erin Mult Television film 2017–2018 Giants Journee Web series; Main role
Other credits Year Title Writer ExecutiveProducer Notes 1997 Figure It Out Herself / Panelist 2011–2012 Fail 2 episodes; also director 2017–2018 Giants 2 episodes 2019 Soap Central Herself / Interviewee 2019–2022 Animal Kingdom 4 episodes 2021 Guilty Party 1 episode 2021–2024 The Sex Lives of College Girls 2 episodes 2024 Lady in the Lake 2025 The Morning Show 1 episode2026 The Terror: Devil in Silver 1 episodeLanterns2 episodes
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