Marsai Martin is a boss and Hollywood’s youngest executive producer was honored for her work in the industry on the red carpet at ESSENCE’s Black Women in Hollywood on Thursday.
Martin was presented with Walmart’s Reign On Award for making history, speaking out about bullying, and inspiring young girls.
Walmart’s Director of Multicultural Marketing, Regine Moore, presented the actress with the award, describing her as the definition of “what it means to reign on.”
“I am so beyond grateful,” Martin told ESSENCE. “I’m so grateful just to be here and to be honored with this group of people and being with my peers, it’s just amazing.”
Martin is making history as the youngest executive producer in Hollywood history with her upcoming film Little, which stars Issa Rae and Black Women in Hollywood honoree, Regina Hall.
In January, she told ESSENCE that she hopes the film inspires other teens to dream big.
“A lot of people will say different stuff like, ‘You can’t do it.’ They’ll say no before I even say anything. You just have to believe in yourself and there’s a reason they might say no because they probably haven’t seen it before.”
She added, “You don’t really see a 14-year-old girl creating her own stuff and actually making it into theaters. That’s why you have to start working with people that will trust you and will believe that you can do it and will trust that you can carry…such a big responsibility.”
