First off, I want to know how a 13-year-old is already more successful than me. Marsai Martin, best known for her role as the sassy Diane Johnson in the hit ABC comedy series “Black-ish,” has just snagged her first producing gig. The film she is producing, titled “Little,” a Universal Pictures comedy, will follow an adult woman who is given the opportunity to relive life as her younger self (Martin) after the pressures of adult life become too much to handle. Not only will Martin be executive producer the film, but she also came up with the idea for the script and will star in the movie. “Black-ish” was Martin’s big break, but this new film will be her first big-screen appearance.
The script was originally written by Tracy Oliver, writer for “Girl’s Trip,” and will be directed by Tina Gordon Chism, who scripted the movie “Drumline.” Kenya Barris, the creator of “Black-ish,” has also signed on to produce the movie alongside Martin.
Martin recently posted a picture on Instagram, where she has almost 250,000 followers, of the Hollywood Reporter article announcing her role in the upcoming film, with which she captioned “… I am beyond grateful #yallreadyforthis #imreadyforthis #little #marsaimartin.” Clearly, she is very excited about this new opportunity and her growing career.
Marsai Martin was born in Plano, Texas and began acting before she could even speak. At the mere age of five, Martin landed her first national commercial for The Choice Hotel. In 2013, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting and soon landed another commercial, but this time it was a major commercial campaign for Meineke. Around the time she landed the Meineke campaign was also around the time she was cast as Diane Johnson on “Black-ish.”
Martin set off her successful career when she was cast in “Black-ish” at age nine. Now, four seasons later, loyal viewers have come to love Martin’s character, Diane, for her sass and brains. Martin stars as the twin sister to Miles Brown’s character and the daughter of Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson’s characters. Over 4 million viewers tune in each week to watch the Johnsons, an upper-middle class African American family, and their hilarious antics.
For her role in “Black-ish,” Martin received many award nominations and won two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and two Young Artist Awards for Best Performance in a TV Series and Supporting Young Actress. The incredible success she’s had at such a young age will, no doubt, continue to blossom into an amazing career. Even though she may be “Little” now, Martin surely has a very bright future ahead of her.