Dara Reneé

Dara Reneé Brooks is an American actress, model, rapper, singer and songwriter whose notable roles include Kourtney Greene in the Disney+ mockumentary series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Uliana in the film Descendants: The Rise of Red, earning an Emmy Award nomination for the latter. She also was the host of the baking competition show Disney's Magic Bake-Off.

Early life

Reneé was born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in Baltimore where her mother, Kimberly Brooks, founded a non-profit performing arts school, Encouraging Youth To Dream, in Pikesville. Brooks is also an actress and Reneé's grandmother was a member of 1960s Baltimore soul group The Royalettes. Reneé attended John Paul Regional Catholic School in Milford Mill. She initially tried auditioning for theatre roles in New York before moving back to California to finish high school at Charter High School of the Arts in Van Nuys.

Career

Reneé debuted with the role of Savannah in the 2018 Disney Channel Original Movie Freaky Friday.
In 2019, she had a recurring role as Stunts in the fifth season of the ABC Television series Black-ish. She also had a guest role in The Kids Are Alright.
Reneé stars in the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series as Kourtney, a student a makeup artist and Nini's best friend. The series premiered in November 2019. Reneé had auditioned for the role of Kourtney, Kourtney was originally intended to be a one-off character, but Reneé was invited to become a series regular. She created the series' arrangement of "Bop to the Top". Starting in season 2 of the series, her own mother played her character Kourtney's mother, Michelle.
In 2021, it was announced that she would host Disney's Magic Bake-Off with Raven's Home star Issac Ryan Brown.
At the 2022 D23 Expo, her casting as Uliana, the sister of Ursula the Sea Witch, in Descendants 4 was revealed. The film, officially titled Descendants: The Rise of Red, was released in 2024.