Actress Marsai Martin Says She Won’t Accept “Black Pain” Movie Roles

Marsai Martin spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about future projects for 2021.

Fresh off two NAACP Image Awards (one for outstanding performance by a youth, another for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series), 16-year-old Black-ish actress/producer Marsai Martin spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about her executive production debut in 2019’s Little, and the in-progress Disney Channel comedy pilot Saturdays.

In the interview, Martin revealed that she has a very clear rule regarding the projects she wants to be involved with. The rule has resonated with many Black members of the entertainment industry.

“I have a couple rules when you come into my office,” she said. “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.”

Martin is currently working on Saturdays, a film starring Danielle Jalade, about a Black girl with sickle cell disease participating in competitive roller skating.

“The aesthetic of roller skating is just amazing,” she continued. “It doesn’t get the recognition that it needs. I just wanted to shine a light on it. 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.”

Stay tuned for further updates on Marsai Martin and Saturdays.