Marsai Martin and Nico Parker Are Smart, Unapologetic, and Proving Grown-Ups Wrong

“Everyone thinks you have to grow up to know who you are, but kids already know who we are. The world just beats it out of us,” says Marsai Martin in the new film Little, playing the 13-year-old version of magically de-aged tech CEO Jordan Sanders. It’s a powerful moment from a character who is forced back into her middle-school years to relearn how to be herself as an adult — and how to see the world through the eyes of a child.

That theme is echoed in another movie released just two weeks before Little hits theaters on April 12, Disney’s star-studded live-action remake of Dumbo, about a fantastical, flying baby elephant who joins the circus with the help of two smart children. On the surface, the two films — one a majestic, almost otherworldly Tim Burton take on a classic, and the other a science-fiction-infused family comedy directed by Drumline writer Tina Gordon — might not appear to have much in common. But timing coincidence aside, what the two movies really share is a message about the power of young girls and the influence they can have when allowed to wield that power in ways that can save lives, repair reputations, and challenge the way adults run the world.

These two stories are told primarily through Teen Vogue’s March/April 2019 cover stars, actors Marsai Martin (as Jordan in Little) and Nico Parker (as Milly Farrier in Dumbo), two 14-year-olds who, just by following their interests and talents, are changing Hollywood. They are up-and-coming industry forces — for proof, look no further than their latest starring turns, each of which represents a shift in the kinds of stories teens get to tell onscreen. In Marsai’s words, her character, Jordan, and Nico’s Milly are both "good examples of a black girl who rocks."

Coincidentally, both Marsai and Nico grew up with a similar familiarity with Hollywood and the way the entertainment industry works. Texas native Marsai has played Diane Johnson on ABC’s Black-ish since 2014 and was signed to an acting agency when she was just five years old; with Little, she became the youngest Hollywood executive producer in history. She was 10 when she first pitched the idea for the movie to Universal, as a reversal of the Tom Hanks classic Big, which was her mom’s favorite movie at the time.

"The first time I was in Universal, I was 10, and I [was wearing] this blazer," Marsai tells Teen Vogue. Thanks to her acting and producing experience, she’s more confident these days. "Now, it's like I come in with sweats and with a hoodie, and I'm just like, 'So, here's what's going down, guys.'" In February 2019, her company Genius Productions, which she founded in 2017, signed a first-look deal with Universal for her scripted projects.

Meanwhile, Dumbo may be Nico’s first acting role, but she’s always been around movies and TV: Her mom is actress Thandie Newton, known most recently for Westworld and Solo: A Star Wars Story, and her dad is writer and director Ol Parker, who led movies like Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Dakota Fanning’s 2012 flick Now Is Good. Growing up in London, she and her siblings were fixtures on movie sets, where they learned about the business and the behind-the-scenes aspects of acting, even if they did get a little bored sometimes: "I just remember complaining because I didn't know how actually cool it was." Now that she’s embarking on her first movie release, she feels "fortunate" to have that background, but she says it’s a bit surreal to be the one in the spotlight: "The whole process of publicity, I find it really odd," she says. "I'm not here to be like their kid. [My mom is] here to be my stage mom."

In Little, Marsai plays the younger version of confident, stylish Jordan Sanders (Regina Hall); Jordan is a successful, if demanding, businesswoman who is magically cursed to relive her preteen years as punishment for the mean way she treats her employees (including Issa Rae’s April). Marsai plays young Jordan as wildly ambitious, with ideas that already hint at her tech prowess. But she’s also scared, still scarred by a public humiliation during a school talent show where she was attacked for proudly displaying those ideas. When she earns her way back to being an adult, it’s with the message that she was bullied into becoming a bully herself — but she knew who she was inside all along.

Dumbo features Nico as Milly Farrier, an aspiring scientist who sees Dumbo for the magical being he is, instead of as a freak or a series of dollar signs. Milly is both an adventurer and a caring, stabilizing presence for her unstable family; she’s quietly the catalyst for the whole movie’s sequence of events. It’s her and her younger brother’s patience and critical-thinking skills that save Dumbo’s life and the life of his mother. They do this, however, with a refusal to be told that their way of seeing the world is somehow incorrect just because they’re young.

"For young people, it's often said that we're always on our phones, and we're not aware of our surroundings, and we're not aware of what's going on in the world," Nico says, adding that especially for herself, "it's the complete opposite."

In an alternate fictional universe, Milly and Jordan could be coworkers, or friends. The two characters share a passion for science in environments that repeatedly question their aptitude and passion for the field: Jordan comes up against classmates who mock her love of physics, while Milly’s father, Holt (Colin Farrell), strongly implies she, as a girl, should spend far less time trying to be an innovator like her hero, the famed scientist Marie Curie.

Ironically, it’s the movie’s villain, V. A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), who imparts wisdom Milly internalizes: "Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do." In 2019, when organizations like Black Girls Code and Kode With Klossy aim to help young women, and especially girls of color, receive more STEM education and resources, these stories feel extra relevant and important. "We need more of those characters that lead by example for people coming up next to us," Marsai says.

Besides having in common the career interests of their characters, Nico and Marsai also play young heroines discovering the scope of their influence — which is not unlike the journey they’re on in real life as their careers develop.

Though they’re almost exactly the same age, Nico is in some ways where Marsai was a few years ago — new to acting and promotion and all that goes along with burgeoning fame. Marsai is home-schooled, in part because of the attention she was getting from classmates for Black-ish, but also because of her increasingly busy production schedule. "I don't miss public school," she says. Plus, she’s traded a school desk for her own production office, complete with six employees, and a desk that she’s working on decorating with art, like tiny statues and crystals that "help with stress and moving forward and making the right decisions."

In that office, she’s already turning her attention to future projects, like her next movie with Universal, a comedy she pitched called StepMonster where she'll play a teenage girl who tries to make her dad's new love interest disappear. She’s also brainstorming even farther out — in Little, one of the funniest scenes has Marsai and Issa Rae dancing and singing on restaurant tables to Mary J. Blige’s "I’m Goin’ Down," and she’d love to do more with music. "I wouldn't do a whole pop album," she says. "But I would do a musical." Despite all this creation, she’s figured out how to make sure work doesn’t take over her life. "Being on a TV show for about six years and just being in the industry for almost 10, you kind of get used to it," she says. "You can do all this stuff, but in real life, you're still a kid that can be whoever they want to be."

Nico, on the other hand, still attends school in London, though she did take time off to work with a private tutor while filming Dumbo. Her school friends are important to her own sense of balance, even with a major Disney movie to promote. Dumbo was one of her first auditions ever — her dad filmed her sitting on the kitchen floor, using a stuffed polar bear as a stand-in for the wing-eared elephant — and she describes her first day acting on set as "terrifying." She walked by her costar Danny DeVito, "and it almost made it worse. He is such a legend," she says. "But as soon as it started I felt completely comfortable. Everyone's really supportive. If you get something wrong, it's not the end of the world. Which at the time I thought it was." She’s also learning to be aware of the pitfalls of fame and how situations can become dangerous or manipulative, especially for young women. "[My mom] is very 'mama bear' over me," she says. "Just the fact that she's been through things herself, it also teaches me what situations I can avoid, or what situations that I can stay in."

Altogether, the experience of her first film has made Nico "very keen" to continue acting, and while she’s focused on presenting Dumbo to the world, she's already auditioning for more projects. In the meantime, she jokes, she’s obsessed with watching TV, like Netflix’s Big Mouth and Sex Education ("I probably shouldn't watch it — I don't think it's for my rating, but it's great").

Regardless of their experience levels, both Marsai and Nico are figuring out how to navigate a world that demands they raise their voice and can then turn on them if they do or say the wrong thing. They’re both aware of the power of their words and their decisions — because they themselves have heroes and fellow celebrities they admire and are influenced by: Marsai is a huge Tiffany Haddish fan, Nico says she wants to be Zendaya’s best friend.

As they celebrate their current successes and begin to look toward future projects, both actors say they’re still learning to speak up for themselves as they get older, whether in a room full of adults on set or in a group of friends. "When I was younger, in my friend group, I was quieter. I wouldn’t really step on anyone’s toes," Nico says. "As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that if I think I’m right, or if I know my opinion, I’m not afraid to stand up for what I believe in."

Marsai wishes she could tell her nine-year-old self, "What you say matters, and your voice is heard."

The physical manifestation of that? Little, which intentionally has a black woman director and an all-black lead cast, as part of Marsai’s plan to "change the normal." "[The movie] made me feel like this can happen. It wasn’t impossible. We definitely need more [representation] in the industry," Marsai says. "Of course, the more I keep creating, the more that will probably happen."

Credits:

Photographer: Bec Parsons

Fashion stylist: Ashley Furnival

Nico's Hairstylist: Marcia Hamilton

Nico's Makeup artist: Dana Delaney

Nico's Manicurist: Ashlie Johnson

Marsai's Hairstylist: Ashley Noel

Marsai's Makeup artist: Shannon Pezzetta

Marsai's Manicurist: Ashlie Johnson

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