Former U. S. President Barack Obama recently shared his thoughts on his daughter Malia's decision to use only her first and middle names, "Malia Ann, " as she enters the film industry. Malia's debut film, "The Heart, " premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024, and she chose not to use her family's famous last name. Obama, proud of his daughters' independence, said he wasn't surprised by Malia's choice. He admitted that she wants her work to be judged on its own merits, without the influence of the Obama name.

Malia, who graduated from Sidwell Friends School in Washington D. C. , has been preparing for her career in Hollywood for a while. She interned for an HBO show and with Harvey Weinstein's production company before working as a staff writer on Donald Glover's Amazon Prime series, "Swarm. " Now, with her own film, Malia hopes that audiences will focus on her work rather than her family background.

"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 in a podcast interview. He mentioned how Malia and her sister Sasha have always wanted to forge their own paths, even though people will still associate them with their father.

Obama noted that his daughters are quite independent and don't want their parents' influence to overshadow their careers. "Our challenge, " he said, "is that they hardly want us involved. They’re very sensitive and quite stubborn about it. " He also mentioned that as they've grown older, they've had to deal with paparazzi, which they find annoying. However, he's proud that they remain grounded despite the attention.

Other celebrity children have also chosen to drop their famous parents' last names. For example, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes's daughter uses the name Suri Noelle, adopting her mother's middle name. Similarly, Shiloh and Vivienne, children of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, use Jolie's surname, and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s daughter goes by "Willow. "

Malia Obama Paves Her Own Path in Hollywood

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