While other A-list kids are hitting red carpets and celebrity-packed parties or posting aesthetic shots on Instagram, Barack and Michelle Obama's daughters Malia, 28, and 25-year-old Sasha are rarely seen. Though exceptions have included supporting their dad at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago in June, the sisters generally keep a low profile in line with their intensely private lives.
The two were just little girls when they were thrust into the global limelight as their father won the Democratic nomination for the 2008 election. When Obama took office as the 44th president of the United States, they became the first youngsters to live in the White House since Chelsea Clinton from 1993 to 2001.
Malia and Sasha spent their formative years in Washington DC, attending private Quaker school Sidwell Friends in Bethesda, Maryland, but when it was time to leave the nest, neither opted to remain close to home.
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© Getty ImagesSasha and Malia Obama grew up under the intense global spotlight of the White House
Leaving the Beltway for the West Coast
Instead of attending a local university and leaning into their political nepo-baby status by joining a DC think tank, the two spread their wings, relocating to build their lives on their own terms.
Malia earned a Bachelor's degree in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard then moved to Los Angeles, while Sasha transferred from the University of Michigan to the University of Southern California (USC). It was then that they both decided to call L.A. home.
The Obama sisters: Carving separate paths in Hollywood
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© InstagramMalia opted to go by 'Malia Ann' to let her work stand apart from the family name
Malia Ann: Dropping the famous surname in Hollywood
It's in California that the Obama sisters are taking deliberate steps to distance themselves from their famous mom and dad and to carve out self-made lives.
Malia got her start in entertainment in 2015, interning for Lena Dunham's HBO series Girls and the Weinstein Company (prior to its collapse), and landing a production assistant role on Halle Berry's CBS sci-fi show Extant. Years later, ready to make the jump into filmmaking, Malia followed the trend of celebrity offspring like the Jolie-Pitts or Suri Cruise, dropping her last name.
When her 18-minute short film The Heart made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, she was billed simply as Malia Ann, using her middle name that came from her paternal grandmother, Stanley Ann Dunham.
The move sparked a "nepo baby" debate online with critics arguing that, even without the last name, being an Obama still opens doors.
Barack Obama acknowledged that tension on the The Pivot Podcast, as he recalled his and Michelle's reaction to the name change. "I was all like, 'You do know they'll know who you are,'" he said. Malia's response, though, was firm. "She's like, 'You know what? I want them to watch [the film] that first time and not in any way have that association.' So I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that."
Mom Michelle understands that her daughter wants the audience to judge her work without any reputational baggage. "We respected the fact that she's trying to make her way," she said on Kate and Oliver Hudson's Sibling Revelry podcast.
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© Getty ImagesThe elder Obama daughter, seen here at Sundance, has garnered industry praise for her talent and grounded work ethic
Malia's career rise
Colleagues in writers' rooms have praised Malia's work ethic and writing chops over her background. After working on Donald Glover's series Swarm, the show's co-creator Janine Nabers told Vanity Fair: "She's a very professional person. She's an incredible writer and artist… We really wanted to give her the opportunity to get her feet wet in TV, and see if this is something she wants to continue doing."
Glover told the magazine she is "amazingly talented" with a "great" writing style, but insisted she didn't get any special treatment. "We can't be easy on her just because she's the President's daughter," he said. "Nah, she's very down to earth, and cool. So, it's not a problem at all."
'Sasha is in school, Malia has a budding career in film. They are smart, they're funny, they're wise in their own ways'
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© WireImageBarack Obama has described younger daughter Sasha as principled, and never intimidated by status or titles
'Completely confident' Sasha Obama branches out
While her older sister pursues the director's chair, Sasha is forging her own path behind the scenes. And her strong personality is one she's had since she was a child. "Sasha is, as Malia describes it, completely confident about her own take on the world and is not cowed or intimidated — and never has been — by anybody’s titles, anybody’s credentials," Obama told InStyle while promoting his book, A Promised Land, in 2020.
"If she thinks something’s wrong or right, she will say so. When she was four, five, six years old, once she made a decision, she would dig in and couldn’t be steered off it… that part of her character has always been there."
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© AFP via Getty ImagesAfter graduating from USC with a sociology degree, Sasha quietly worked as a casting interviewer under her full first name, Natasha
"Natasha" and her low-key path into documentary work
After Sasha graduated from USC in May 2023 with a degree in sociology, eagle-eyed viewers noticed her full name, Natasha Obama, quietly listed in the end credits as a "casting interviewer" on Showtime’s critically acclaimed docuseries Couples Therapy. In this role, she likely put her sociology background to work gathering research; casting interviewers generally conduct in-depth screening interviews with prospective participants to evaluate them before cameras roll.
While her surprise credit as Natasha suggests a Hollywood career, Michelle confirmed her "amazing" younger daughter is continuing her education during an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show in 2024. "Sasha is in school, Malia has a budding career in film. They are smart, they're funny, they're wise in their own ways and I love spending time with them."
Of course when you have the last name Obama — even if it's removed from the credits, as in Malia's case — access is impossible to erase, but the Obama sisters seem to be doing their best to avoid capitalizing on the family brand. "The challenge for us is letting us give them any help at all," Obama said during The Pivot podcast. "I mean, they're very sensitive about this stuff. They're very stubborn about it."
'I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage [the Obama name]'
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© InstagramThough intensely close with their famous parents, Malia and Sasha remain committed to self-reliance
Roomies in L.A.: 'They have each other's backs'
Sisterhood seems to be an anchor for the close siblings — after Sasha graduated from USC, rather than getting her own place, she moved in with her big sister in Los Angeles.
Far from the armored motorcades of Washington DC, Malia has been spotted enjoying L.A. life over the past few years, picnicking in Silver Lake Meadow, shopping at Erewhon or grabbing coffee in West Hollywood. So it's no wonder Sasha decided to lay down roots there as well.
The sisters are "each other's best friends," and "one another's support systems," Michelle said on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna in 2022. "There was a period of time when they couldn't stand each other, and I said, 'You wait, you are going to wake up one day and you're going to look over at that other person, and you're going to know that you two share something very unique,' especially given what they've been through."
Now, Michelle noted: "They've got each other's backs, it's the thing that a mother would want."
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Malia and Sasha have been known to have their parents over for cocktails
Weak martinis and real privacy
The sisters also stay in close touch with their parents, who are known to visit often — which has led to some new experiences for mom and dad.
While on Hoda & Jenna, Mrs. Obama told of one Los Angeles trip that saw some roles reversed.
"We were going to take them to dinner, and they said, 'Why don't you come over to our spot for cocktails?'" she recalled. "And we were like, 'Okay, let's see what this is going to be like.'.
"The martinis were a little weak. I don't think they really knew what it was." She laughed. "I'm like, 'You never used a coaster in my house. So now when it's your stuff, you want to take care of it?'"
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© Getty ImagesMom Michelle has said it is 'a lovely thing... to be able to watch my girls fly'
The 'Advisor-in-Chief' and a firm ban on politics
As both daughters navigate their 20s, Michelle's goal is to let them grow, pivoting her parental strategy from "Mom-in-Chief" to "Advisor-in-Chief", as she detailed on The Light Podcast in 2023. "That's a lovely thing — to be able to watch my girls fly and have the relief that 'Okay, I think I didn't mess them up.'"
One thing is certain, for now at least: the sisters have zero interest in politics or holding public office. As Obama said during a 2024 fundraiser for then-President Joe Biden: "Michelle drilled into them so early that you would be crazy to go into politics. It will never happen."
Instead, putting privacy over promotion, Malia and Sasha are focusing on self-reliance. "It is very important for my kids to feel like they’ve earned what they are getting in the world," Michelle said on the Sibling Revelry podcast. "They don’t want people to assume that they don’t work hard, that they’re… just handed things.
“They’re very sensitive to that. They want to be their own people.”
