Over the last year, our own Contributing Writer Tia Shah, has been writing an amazing column about trailblazing girls throughout history. This new Incredible Girls column is in that vein, only this column is about contemporary girls under the age of 25 who are doing awe-inspiring and significant things in the world. Every Friday in 2019, we are going to post a column detailing the life of an Incredible Girl and why you should know about her. Read on for a glimpse into the life of actress and producer Marsai Martin.
14-year-old Marsai Martin stars in the ABC sitcom, Black-ish, and most recently starred in and executive produced the 2019 comedy, Little.
Marsai was born in Texas and her family moved to Los Angeles in 2013 when her career started to pick up. In 2014 she was cast in Black-ish and she has received many awards and nominations including NAACP awards and Screen Actor Guild awards. In 2016, Marsai made her film debut in An American Girl Story – Melody 1963: Love Has to Win, where she played a young girl growing up in Detroit during the Civil Rights Movement.
Marsai became the youngest person in Hollywood to produce a movie, when she signed onto produce Little at age 13. Marsai’s motivation and drive honestly makes me a little tired, and she’s a decade younger than I am! Speaking to Teen Vogue for a 21 Under 21 feature, she said that she hopes to become a screenwriter, director and producer. “I have new genres that I want to keep on moving and expanding toward,” she said. “I don’t want to be known as just an actress. I want to be known as an entertainer and entrepreneur… I just want to keep making my family proud.”
Marsai also talked to Teen Vogue about historic firsts. “I hope that [in 21 years] we won’t even have to be a first anymore: first black woman to do this, or first black male, or first woman to do that. I hope that we always have diversity, that we have equality and representation every step of the way.”
She is inspiring, intelligent, and is definitely already starting to make her mark on Hollywood. From her work on Black-ish to her starring and producing roles in Little and upcoming films, I can’t wait to see where her career goes from here. Marsai is unstoppable.
-Sage Daugherty
Associate Editor
Girl Museum Inc.