It’s not unheard of in Hollywood for the offspring of celebrities to shed their famous parents’ last names, so Malia Obama isn’t breaking any new ground by wanting to be known as “Malia Ann,” as she pursues her career as a filmmaker.
In recent years, the daughters of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise have dropped the movie stars’ surnames, although that’s reportedly because these women have difficult, or even non-existent, relationships with these famous men
Malia Obama belongs in another category, according to her father, former President Barack Obama. She’s among the celebrity offspring who hope to make their own way in their careers and who don’t want their work judged by their famous connections. In other words, they don’t want to be potentially seen as “nepo babies.”
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 18: Malia Ann Obama attends the “The Heart” Premiere at the Short Film Program 1 during the 2024 Sundance Film Festival at Prospector Square Theatre on January 18, 2024 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
During an interview Tuesday on the “Pivot” podcast, Obama said that Malia, 26, wanted audiences to watch her directorial debut, “The Heart,” without having the family connection in mind.
“She’s all like, ‘You know what? I want them to watch it that first time and not in any way have that association,’” Obama said, during a conversation about raising children in the public eye.
Obama explained that his daughter’s first film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has screened at “all these fancy film festivals” — without using her using “Obama” in the director credits.
The father of two — who also shares daughter Sasha, 23, with wife Michelle Obama — explained that his daughters aren’t interested in using their status as former first daughters to get ahead.
“I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that,” Obama said.
Malia Obama — or Malia Ann — debuted her short film, “The Heart,” at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in January. As Vanity Fair reported at the time, she wrote and directed the 18-minute film, which was one of several short works that screened at the festival.
“The Heart” is described as a drama about a lonely man grieving the death of his mother after she leaves him an unusual request in her will. The Harvard graduate has called her film “an odd little story” that she hoped will make viewers “feel a bit less lonely” and remind them “not to forget about the people who are.”
When Obama first learned that his daughter didn’t want to use his last name for her movie, he advised her that people probably wouldn’t be fooled.
“I was all like, ‘You do know they’ll know who you are,’” he said. But he said she held her ground, which has made him proud, saying that both his daughters are “amazing.”