Who Is Laura Marano, Netflix's The Perfect Date Star?

published 27 March 2019

Noah Centineo has another girlfriend, and this time it's not Lara Jean Covey. The internet's favorite boyfriend will star in Netflix's The Perfect Date (opens in new tab) as Brooks Rattigan, a guy who creates an app where anyone can pay him to play the perfect stand-in boyfriend. Actress Lauren Marano (opens in new tab), 23, is one of the lucky women who get to play Centineo's fake girlfriend. If you're wondering why she looks so familiar, you may recognize her as Dawson from Disney's Austin & Ally (opens in new tab) from 2011-2016.

Here, everything you need to know about Marano ahead of The Perfect Date's release on April 12.

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She was one of the original stars of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?

Laura Marano is smarter than all of us and starred in the Fox game show, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? in 2007. Watch a clip of her below.

She's an independent singer.

Marano debuted her first single, "Boombox" in 2016 (opens in new tab) and "La La" (opens in new tab) later that year. A few weeks ago, she released her first EP, Me. The single, of the same title, was originally released in 2018.

"This is the most empowered and in charge of my destiny I’ve ever been in my life. It’s pushed me to be in control of every part of my life, as much as I possibly can," Marano told Stylecaster (opens in new tab). "In a lot of ways, Me is re-introducing myself to the music world and all of my fans. Because I am this new version of myself."

LISTEN TO THE EP (opens in new tab)

She's going to star in A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish.

Marano will star in the fifth installment of the A Cinderella Story franchise (opens in new tab) alongside Disney actor Gregg Sulkin. She'll be following in the footsteps of Hilary Duff, Selena Gomez, Lucy Hale, and Sofia Carson. Release date TBD.

You probably know her older sister, Vanessa Marano, who's also an actress.

Marano has a very close relationship with her family (opens in new tab), including her 26-year-old sister Vanessa Marano. Vanessa is best known for her role in Freeform's Switched at Birth.

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She has a surprising connection to the Netflix Sabrina reboot.

Marano played Dawson in Disney's Austin & Ally (opens in new tab) for five years. Interestingly enough, Ross Lynch, who stars as Harvey on Sabrina, played Austin—and both Marano's character and Lynch's character ended up together (opens in new tab) on the show.

Now please join me in counting down the days until we get to see Marano and Centineo on screen together.

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Rachel Epstein is a writer, editor, and content strategist based in New York City. Most recently, she was the Managing Editor at Coveteur, where she oversaw the site’s day-to-day editorial operations. Previously, she was an editor at Marie Claire, where she wrote and edited culture, politics, and lifestyle stories ranging from op-eds to profiles to ambitious packages. She also launched and managed the site’s virtual book club, #ReadWithMC. Offline, she’s likely watching a Heat game or finding a new coffee shop.