Filipino-American actress and singer Laya De Leon Hayes has been nominated in the 52nd National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Awards as the voice actor of the lead character in Disney Junior’s Doc McStuffins.
The 16-year-old rising star scored a nod for her Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance on Disney’s Doc McStuffins, a series that follows a seven-year-old playing a doctor who cares for stuffed animals and toys in her own clinic.
Laya De Leon Hayes was born to a Filipina mother and African-American father. She has been vocal about being biracial in Hollywood as well as embracing her Filipino roots.
Laya De Leon Hayes shared in an Instagram post about receiving the NAACP nomination that celebrates the work of artists of color and those advocating for social justice through art.
“Wow. thank you so much @naacpimageawards for the nomination this year! 💎 The impact DMS has had and the amazing things I’ve been able to experience because of this show never fails to amaze me,” Laya De Leon Hayes wrote on February 3, 2021.
The teen celebrity landed the voice acting role of the series’ main character Dottie “Doc” McStuffins when she was just nine years old, replacing voice actress Kiara Muhammad in Season 3 of the show.
I’m extremely grateful to be recognized for the work I’ve done on this show. It’s a true honor,” Hayes adds.
Disney Jr.’s Doc McStuffins marked its 4th win for Outstanding Children’s Program in the NAACP’s annual Image Awards in 2019, where Hayes was also a nominee in the Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance category.
The show is presently nominated in the Outstanding Animated Series category this year against Netflix’s “Big Mouth” and “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power”, Central Park, and CBS’ “Star Trek: Lower Decks.”
Hayes joins fellow Filipino-American nominee and singer H.E.R. with four music nods in the 2021 NAACP Image Awards set to take place on March 27 (March 28, Manila time).
H.E.R. already earned a Golden Globes nomination for the song “Fight For You,” from the soundtrack of the upcoming film “Judas and the Black Messiah” and performed “America the Beautiful” at the Super Bowl 55 earlier in February.
Hayes is now the star of CBS’ The Equalizer, where she plays the role of Delilah who is the teenage daughter of Robyn McCall played by the Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah.
WATCH some clips of Doc McStuffins here and SEND CONGRATULATIONS in the comments below to Filipino-American actress Laya De Leon Hayes for bagging the Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance nomination in the 52nd NAACP Image Awards!
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