Danielle Vega holding a Barney plush doll.
Erica Danielle Rhodes Coe (née Vega; born February 4, 1986 in Atlanta, Georgia), known professionally as Danielle Vega, is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Kim on the television series Barney & Friends (credited as Erica Rhodes); and as Ceci Camayo on Hulu's drama series East Los High.
Career[]
Barney & Friends[]
Due to Vega's mother being remarried, it brought her to Dallas, Texas. Her mother saw an advertisement in a newspaper for an open call for a children's series. Vega was called to audition four to five times, with the last call-in being with the producers of the show. She had to sing "Happy Birthday" to a plush toy version of Barney. The producers eventually called Vega to let her know that they wanted her to be on the show. Initially, Vega was to be apart of Barney's Big Surprise but was eventually swapped to be a series regular on Barney & Friends.
At age nine, going on ten, Vega's first production of Barney occurred with the video Barney's Sense-Sational Day, debuting as Kim. She didn't have her lines memorized for the video until they started filming.[1] Vega's final appearance as Kim was in the video Barney's Beach Party (2002).
Vega returned as a dancer in the video Let's Make Music (2006) and in the episode "Dancing" (2006).
Post-Barney[]
In 2009, Vega auditioned for the ninth season of American Idol. During her audition, she mentioned that she was on Barney & Friends. Before her audition started Vega sang "I Love You" in front of the judges due to Randy Jackson, one of the judges of American Idol at the time, asking her to do so. Afterwards, Vega sang "Free Your Mind" by En Vogue to show that she grew up from Barney & Friends.[2][3] Vega was later cut in the Hollywood Week auditions.
Trivia[]
Children's Productions[]
- In 1994, Vega appeared as herself in the religious-oriented VHS series Psalty's Songs for Little Praisers in volumes 1-3, which was filmed in the same studio as Barney.
People[]
- David Joyner, who was Barney's costume performer during her time on the show, was Vega's acting coach prior to Vega being on the show.
Videos[]
- Vega's favorite Barney Home Videos and episodes to film were Barney's Sense-Sational Day (due to her debut), Barney in Outer Space (due to the sets), Is Everybody Happy? (due to Barney helping Kim with the decorations) and "A Picture of Health".
- Vega kept her astronomy jacket from Barney in Outer Space.[1]
Videos[]
Interviews[]
