It is not unheard of in Hollywood for the offspring of celebrities to shed their famous parents’ last names, so Malia Obama isn’t breaking any new ground by wanting to be known as “Malia Ann” as she pursues her career as a filmmaker.
In recent years, the daughters of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise have dropped the movie stars’ surnames, although that is reportedly because these women have difficult, or even nonexistent, relationships with these famous men.
In other words, they do not want to be potentially seen as “nepo babies”.
During an interview this week on the Pivot podcast, Obama said that Malia, 26, wanted audiences to watch her directorial debut, The Heart, without having the family connection in mind.
“She is all like, ‘You know what? I want them to watch it that first time and not in any way have that association,’” Obama said, during a conversation about raising children in the public eye.