Marsai Martin was just recognized at the NAACP Image Awards for her work on-screen but the history-making “black-ish” star is also blazing trails behind the scenes. The youngest person to get a first-look deal at Universal spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about what what she’s looking for in projects she wants to produce, and her response is making headlines.
“I have a couple of rules when you come into my office. When you come into my office, don’t give me this — I don’t do no Black pain. If it’s Black pain I don’t go for it because there’s so many films and projects about that, so that’s not who I am,” she explained.
Roxane Gay shared similar frustrations in her 2013 Vulture article “Where Are the Serious Movies About Non-Suffering Black People?” The cultural critic and author wrote, “I am worn out by slavery and struggle narratives. I am worn out by broken black bodies and the broken black spirit somehow persevering in the face of overwhelming and impossible circumstance. There seems to be so little room at the Hollywood table for black movies that to earn a seat, black movies have to fit a very specific narrative… Filmmakers take note of this and keep giving Hollywood exactly what it wants,” she emphasized. “Hollywood showers these struggle narratives with the highly coveted critical acclaim… It is not that slavery and struggle narratives shouldn’t be shared but these narratives are not enough anymore.”
The problem Martin and Gay are pointing to isn’t that projects about Black pain exist — it’s that Hollywood offers so few alternatives to that particular narrative. Any other types of stories about Black characters — “The Photograph,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” and “Hidden Figures” among them — remain too few and far between.
After identifying what she’s not looking for in projects, Martin detailed the kinds of stories she does want to tell. “I know a lot of people don’t like the word ‘authentic,’ but I just love real stories that people can resonate with, even when it doesn’t resonate with you personally but you know a friend who’s dealt with that or families,” she said. “And I love a good plot twist because it gets me every time, just something that is real and something that you can grow up watching, tell your kid’s kids about it and just having those moments because I mean, I love old school stuff. I’m an old soul, so I grew up watching the films that my grandma was watching. So having something like that to where my kid’s kids can watch something and still love it is something that I want to do.”
The “Little” star isn’t focusing on Black pain, but she’s not ignoring it, either. Martin is producing “Saturdays,” a Disney Channel project about a teen with sickle cell anemia set in the world of roller skating. “I’ve always wanted to have just a cool activity that like us Black people love — like everyone loves it but the aesthetic of roller skating is just amazing and it just doesn’t get the recognition that it needs,” she observed. “I just wanted to shine a light on it. Then also, sickle cell is a very big thing in our Black community, it tackles us the most. It’s never been seen on TV or film before so I wanted to make sure this was a moment to shine a light on it — in not a bad way because we don’t do Black pain, but to where our main character is still celebrated, still loved, and lives her life the way that she wants to.”
In other words, “Saturdays'” protagonist isn’t defined by her suffering — her sickness is part of who she is, but it’s not the sum of her identity.
Martin took home two NAACP Image Awards this year: outstanding performance by a youth (series, special, television movie or limited series) and outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for her role in “black-ish.”
Head over to The Hollywood Reporter to hear more from Martin, including her explanation for why she’s not basing her success “on any trophies or awards.”
