Marsai Martin’s Parents Played a Part in the Accidental Start of Her Acting Career

Marsai Martin’s parents have celebrated twenty years of marriage and spent years supporting their talented daughter. Since her fame, the family has started a business together, overcoming a stream of rejection at the start of Marsai’s impressive career.

Marsai’s parents, Joshua and Carol Martin have been by her side since the start of her career. They also dipped their toes into the acting industry and have a few acting credits.

Joshua was the executive producer of “Little,” a film that stars his daughter, Issa Rae, and Regina Hall in 2019. And both of Marsai’s parents had roles in “Fantasy Football” and “Remix My Space with Marsai Martin” in 2022. However, their daughter’s road to stardom was pure happenstance.

Marsai Martin and Her Parents’ Trip to the Mall Became the Catalyst to Her Stardom

Marsai was five when a trip to the mall turned into a life-changing experience for the actress. When a woman in Texas offered her parents a coupon for glamour shots for their daughter, Joshua and Carol signed Marsai up for portraits.

An impressed photographer offered Joshua a more considerable discount if he promised to take Marsai’s portraits to talent agencies, singing her praises about how well she followed directions.

However, Joshua and Carol were in for a rude awakening when three of the four talent agencies they visited rejected their daughter. Carol shared:

“Three of the four agencies said: ‘We already have a girl who looks like that. We already have our black girl. We don’t need two black girls– we have our one.”

The fourth time proved a charm, and Carol and Joshua’s daughter landed an interview. Carol explained, “She had all the agents in a conga line around the room, and they’re like: ‘We want to sign her!'”

Since then, their daughter has reached greater heights in her career and even landed in Time Magazine’s ‘Most Influential Teens’ list in 2018 and the youngest executive producer in Hollywood.

Joshua & Carol Martin Drew Inspiration from Their Daughter’s ‘Black Girl Magic’ to Establish Their Own Company

Inspired by their daughter’s success, Carol and Joshua co-founded Genius Productions– a media company focused on sharing the stories of children of color that Hollywood often overlooks.

Joshua serves as the company’s president and visionary, while Carol holds the title of vice president. Her daughter proved the apple did not fall far from the tree as Marsai inherited her mother’s love for music and film.

However, after Carol’s career ended abruptly, she focused her time on managing her daughter, who was on the rise. After relocating to Los Angeles, Joshua and Carol developed projects promoting the inclusivity of young black girls and boys. Their website reads:

“We pride ourselves on creating, marketing, and distributing cutting-edge content… Genius is known for our passion (for) storytelling, unmatched work ethic, and relentless commitment to originality and telling unique stories.”

Joshua and Carol Martin Raise Their Daughter Just like Any Other Parents

During an interview with CBS News, Carol and Joshua’s daughter shared that her fame in Hollywood was something she felt like she had worked towards all her life.

She kickstarted her career by acting in commercials before landing the role of Diane, a fraternal twin, on “Black-ish.” After working with the likes of Yara Shadidi and Tracee Ellis Ross, Carol and Joshua’s daughter showed no signs of slowing down.

She put on her producer hat when she executively produced “Little” and has voice acting under her belt. But, despite becoming a well-known young actress, Joshua and Carol ensured their daughter never stopped being a child. Carol said:

“I think that we just kind of let her know that this is what she does, but it’s not who she is. Just to keep that separation. You know, she still has chores. She gets in trouble, like every other teenager.”

Joshua Martin Changed Carol’s Mind about Marriage, and They Have Been Together for More than 20 Years Now

In May 2021, Carol took to social media and shared with users in a post that, growing up, she never wanted to get married or have children.

As a young girl, Carol planned to be a childless, rich aunt who spoiled her nieces and nephews with expensive girlfs while traveling the world with someone special.

Her reservations about having a family of her own came from not seeing the kind of family she wanted for herself when she was younger. However, after Joshua came into her life in 1999, Carol had a change of heart. Toward the end of the post, she wrote:

“I am so grateful for growth and for the fact that I gave myself permission to change my stubborn mind.”

In December 2021, Carol shared a handful of pictures of the happily married couple from 1999, 2015, 2017, and 2021 in honor of their nineteenth anniversary.

In June, Carol celebrated Joshua on Father’s Day and shared snaps of the couple on vacation with their two daughters and a picture following the birth of their second daughter, Cydni.

Carol and Joshua’s daughters regularly appeared on their mother’s Instagram. In 2020, the two sisters posed side by side in one picture in honor of National Daughter’s Day, among other pictures that featured their parents.

Like fellow child-actress Zendaya, Marsai has supportive parents. In November, Carol, Joshua, and Cydni walked the carpet with Marsai at the “Fantasy Football” premiere in California.

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