BET Awards 2021: 5 Reasons Why Marsai Martin Is A Straight Up Baller
By now you already know that Hollywood princess Marsai Martin can make money with her eyes closed. The 16-year-old has been raking in checks ever since she debuted on ABC’s Blackish at age 10, and she keeps adding zeros to her account with brilliant performances on and off the screen. The Plano, Texas native continues to make boss moves that impact the culture and her bank account, including the creation of her own production company. It’s clear that Marsai’s talent and vision will keep the racks coming in for decades as we cheer her on.
Here are 5 reasons why she impresses us so much:
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She’s A Business, Ma’am
Marsai’s production company, Genius Entertainment, is laying the groundwork for her inevitable Hollywood takeover. Her production team made it possible for Martin to become Hollywood’s youngest executive producer with 2018’s Little. It wasn’t enough for Marsai to dominate the screen on an award-winning network television show; she had big behind-the-scenes dreams since the age of 10 and took the steps to make them a reality. That’s when Martin told her Blackish boss Kenya Barris that she wanted to flip Tom Hanks’ 1988 film Big into a story of Black female empowerment with an all-Black-women cast. The rest is history.
She Links Boss Ladies Up
Marsai pitched and produced Little when she was literally still playing a little girl on TV. But that didn’t stop her from networking with fellow boss ladies Issa Rae and Regina Hall as she executive produced and starred with them in her first Genius Entertainment release. Plus, she hired a woman writer (Tina Gordon, Drumline) and director (Tracy Oliver, Girls Trip) to bring her idea to the big screen for all of us to enjoy.
She’s Down With the Wayans Method
When she made it big, Marsai also went out of her way to make a move that only real ballers make: She put her family on. And not just as her entourage. Martin’s mom and dad are officially Hollywood executives. In an interview with Forbes, Martin explained, “I like to call Genius Entertainment a family production because the only reason I have this creative brain is because of the people who made me… I’m the CEO, my dad’s the president, and my mom’s the vice president.”
She’s the Princess of Partnerships
Marsai recently announced that Disney Channel greenlit the pilot of her show Saturdays, about a young girl with sickle cell disease who is passionate about roller skating. This is just the latest of Marsai’s projects, but it certainly won’t be the last. This rising star has already shown her incredible ability to connect big dots and whether she is partnering with Disney, Universal or the Girls Inc. Film Festival, which Martin will put her weight behind in an effort to help women filmmakers reach their full potential.
Her Next Moves Will be Her Best Moves
Marsai’s highly-anticipated upcoming projects include the comedy StepMonster and the big budget adaptation of the B.B. Alston novel, Amari and the Night Brothers, which is part of her production deal with Universal. Martin is slated to both star and produce. With her future looking as bright as ever, and all before her 18th birthday, it’s not surprising why we want to ball like Marsai when we grow up.
