Former president Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama welcomed their eldest daughter Malia Obama on July 4, 1998, a fittingly patriotic date for the First Daughter-to-be. She entered the White House at age 11 with her younger sister Sasha and left the White House with her family at the age of 19, growing from a girl to a young woman not just in front of her family’s eyes but in front of America’s eyes and impressing us all the while.
Malia graduated from Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. before enrolling in Harvard University, taking time to travel in Bolivia and Peru and work as an intern at The Weinstein Company before starting college. Now, the Harvard grad is making a name for herself in the film and television industry.
It’s been a privilege to watch Malia handle the spotlight with grace these years, and to see how she embodies her parents as she becomes a young woman — not to mention a gorgeous young woman who looks more polished and confident with every passing year. Read on for our favorite photos of Malia Obama all grown up.
Sundance Film Festival (2024)
Under her stage name, Malia Ann, the Obamas first born celebrated her directorial debut when she premiered her short film “The Heart” at Sundance Film Festival.
“The film is about lost objects and lonely people and forgiveness and regret, but I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in those things. The folks who came together to make this film have my heart, pun intended,” she said in a Meet the Artist video.
The moving piece received glowing reviews and sounds like a promising start for the budding filmmaker.
Sundance (2024)
Malia posed with some other film industry talents on the Sundance red carpet: Makoto Nagahisa, Aurelia Aasa, Yero Timi-Biu, Alexandra Hedison, and Alison Rich.
Chicago International Film Festival (2023)
Malia also celebrated her short film at the Chicago International Film Festival back in October 2023.
Taking the Mic (2023)
Malia introduced her movie on stage at the Chicago International Film Festival, the city in which her parents love story began!
Celebrity Friends (2023)
Malia got her Hollywood break when she joined the writing team for Amazon Prime’s Swarm, co-created by Donald Glover. Here she is seen with the show’s lead Dominique Fishback who gushed about her hopes to grow closer to the former First Daughter to E! News in 2023.
“When we did the mall scene in the first episode, she was there for a while,” said Fishback. “We got to talk. We plan on meeting up and chatting and continuing to build our relationship.”
Swarm Family (2023)
Here Malia posed with fellow Swarm creators, including Donald Glover, at the premiere of the show.
In a 2023 interview with GQ, Glover talked about mentoring Malia, saying: “The first thing we did was talk about the fact that she will only get to do this once. You’re Obama’s daughter. So if you make a bad film, it will follow you around.”
New York Fashion Week (February 2023)
Malia made an appearance at the Dion Lee after party during New York Fashion Week at the Boom Boom Room on February 10. She looks like she’s living it up at the party where Azealia Banks performed.
LA Living (2022)
After graduating college, Malia made a big move to Los Angeles where she now lives with younger sister Sasha.
Backstage at Broadway (2017)
Malia enjoyed backstage access alongside her dad when they went to see Danny DeVito, Mark Ruffalo, Jessica Hecht and Tony Shalhoub in Arthur Miller’s The Price back in 2017.
Family Photo (April 2015)
This 2015 family photo in the White House Rose Garden was taken on Easter Sunday, and everyone — down to Sunny and the late Bo — is looking their sharpest.
Great Wall of China (March 2014)
While Malia Obama was just a few months shy of her 16th birthday here, she was already starting to grow into the gorgeous young woman she is now in this sweet pic with mom and Sasha.
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