Laura Marano

She starred in Without a Trace for three seasons and Back to You. Marano starred in the indie film A Sort of Homecoming, the Disney Channel Original Movie Bad Hair Day (both 2015), the fifth installment of the A Cinderella Story film series A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish, the Netflix original movie The Perfect Date (both 2019), and the Netflix interactive romcom Choose Love (2023). In 2015, she signed with Big Machine Records and released her debut single "Boombox" on March 11, 2016, and "La La" later that year. On October 5, 2018, Laura Marano released the single "Me" as an independent artist.

Marano was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the younger daughter of college professor Damiano Marano and former actress Ellen (née Sweeney) Marano, who owns the Agoura Children's Theatre. Her father is of Italian descent. Marano was first introduced to acting at her mother's theatre. At age five, Marano began expressing interest in acting professionally to her parents along with her older sister Vanessa, who is also an actress. Marano began learning to play the piano, at age nine. 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 in 2013. "It's nice when I'm not working to go to that school and be surrounded by really supportive friends." In 2015 Marano enrolled at the University of Southern California majoring in philosophy, politics and law.

Marano's first acting role was when she was five years old. 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, and in Heroes as Alice Shaw, the child version of Diana Scarwid's character.

In 2011, Marano had her breakout role as Ally Dawson on the Disney Channel series Austin & Ally. In 2013, Marano recorded four solo songs and one duet with Ross Lynch for the soundtrack album Austin & Ally: Turn It Up. "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. "Redial" debuted at number nineteen before peaking at number eighteen, spending four weeks on the chart. 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. On November 25, 2013, the song was released as a promotional single. On December 14, "I Love Christmas" debuted within the U.S. Billboard Holiday Digital Songs chart peaking at number fifty. In 2014, Marano voiced 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". In March 2015, Marano stated that she had signed a record deal with Universal's Big Machine Records. In the same year, Marano starred in Disney Channel's Original Movie, Bad Hair Day alongside Leigh-Allyn Baker, playing Monica Reeves, the film's main protagonist. The film was first released on February 6, 2015, on Disney Channel and had its premiere broadcast in the US on February 13. She also starred 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. On January 10, 2016, Austin and Ally ended after four seasons. On January 13, 2016, Marano debuted her own radio talk show on Radio Disney entitled For the Record with Laura Marano. The weekly one-hour show chronicled Marano's journey as she launched her music career, featuring interviews with a guest star in each episode. The show also provided listeners tips on how one can pursue a career in music. The show featured various guest stars including Nick Jonas, Ariana Grande, Meghan Trainor, OneRepublic, Troye Sivan and Zendaya. The first episode of the show, which aired January 12, 2016, guest starred her co-stars of Austin & Ally.

In August 2013, Marano was 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." In August 2014, Marano was ambassador for the Disney and Birds Eye Vegetables campaign 'Step up to the plate'. The campaign's goal is to encourage children in the United States to explore healthy foods such as vegetables. In April 2019, Laura Marano hosted a fashion show for Childhelp during National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

For the Record with Laura Marano (2016), as Host, for Radio Disney

The Us Tour (2022)

Laura Marano at The Roxy (2019) The You Tour: A four-date live stream tour (2020) Sundays with Laura and You: A seven-date live stream concert series (2021) A Good Time with Laura Marano (2023)