Malia Obama, who debuted her first film “The Heart” at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, has chosen to use the name “Malia Ann” as she builds her Hollywood career. Barack Obama shared his pride in her decision on the “Pivot” podcast, saying, “Her first film went to Sundance and all these fancy film festivals and she didn’t use Obama as a director on the credits.” He admitted he initially warned her that audiences would recognize her regardless, but Malia was firm about letting her work stand independently.
Malia’s decision aligns her with other celebrity children who prefer not to leverage their parents’ fame, including Suri Cruise, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, and Elle King. Prior to her film debut, Malia gained experience interning on HBO projects and working with Donald Glover on his Amazon Prime series “Swarm”.
Reflecting on her independent spirit, Obama shared that both Malia and Sasha are focused on forging their own paths, even resisting input from him and Michelle. “Our challenge,” he noted, “is that they hardly want us involved. They’re very sensitive and quite stubborn about it.” Despite the increased paparazzi attention, Malia remains grounded, he added, and focused on creating a career apart from her family’s legacy.