Martina Laird’s life story is a perfect example that in the pursuit of your dreams, there comes a moment where you must dare to silence the external noises and make choices that are reflective of the life you envision for yourself, even if it is not the norm.

For the St. Kitts-born arts professional, deciding on a career in acting came from that deliberate choosing to go against the grain and dive into something new.

That brave sacrifice came full circle when she landed a role in the 2023 live-action film The Little Mermaid, playing Lashana, Queen Selina’s chief servant.

Reminiscing on her journey to this point, Martina recalls her introduction to the magical world of the arts as a young girl, growing up in Trinidad.

“I went to Bishop Anstey Junior School…at that time we had a headmistress, Mrs. Alves, who was just very creative and would put on these musical shows with us children and teach us the music and direct the whole thing. I think she wrote a lot of the pieces herself,” Martina shares in candid conversation with YCG.

“Other than that, my real start, I always give credit to Tony Hall and Noble Douglas who founded Lilliput’s Children’s Theatre, or as it was first known, Rounders. Tony also had us do a couple of television workshops for TTT…which was great fun,” she continues.

While the present day offers a wealth of diverse opportunities for people of all ages career-wise, it was quite different growing up in Trinidad in the 70s and 80s, according to Martina.

“Though we had some great actors like Eunice Alleyne, Wilbert Holder, no one could just be an actor. You had to have something that was your main profession. So the thought of just being an actor never occurred to me,” she explains.

That is, until she migrated to the UK to pursue a languages degree at the University of Kent at Canterbury, having earned a national scholarship.

“I realized that there were opportunities, that people did just go on to dedicate their lives to a profession. And that’s what inspired me to confront my parents with the dreaded truth that actually I wanted to be an actor full-time,” she recounts.

“I told my mother, she got on the phone immediately and said to my father, you’ll never guess what your daughter wants to do now. But bless them, they were very supportive and I don’t think I would still be here doing this today, without their support,” she admits.

With their blessing, she enrolled at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

The Magical Moment: Martina’s The Little Mermaid Journey begins

After submitting a self-taped audition for a role in the film, Martina says it was during the early days of the pandemic that she was called for a Zoom meeting with the film’s director Rob Marshall and John DeLuca.

“I remember I got up very early and got ready and everything and then the conversation proceeded in a way like, ‘and then you will be doing this and then this will happen’ and I’m like… have I got the job? I mean I don’t want to put my big mouth in the thing,” she laughs, hands clasping her face. “I had no clue what conversation I was having with these people but then happily it turned out that actually, yes, I had been given the job.” Her eyes are dancing with joy as she speaks of the early days of coming on board for the project.

Filming began under strict Covid-19 rules on set at Pinewood Studios, which was in and of itself a thrilling opportunity for Martina.

“That’s where all the big things get shot, the James Bonds, the Star Wars, the Ghostbusters- everything huge gets shot in these big warehouse studios. So just being there was exciting. That drive out of London as you approach the studios and it’s this big plot of land was just so…was just the dream, you know.”

“Being on set, one can’t imagine the scales of these things. I mean, there was a castle built in there. Then they were playing all this steelband music. I’m like yeah man! You give me steelpan music, I know what to do,” she laughs.

“To work on that scale, where there’s that much at stake and there’s that much representation happening. To work with people like Halle Bailey and Rob Marshall who are grace personified was eye-opening and uplifting.”

She’s aware of the power of such an opportunity, particularly as a black woman. “It is a challenge being a black actor or a person of color…it has been. This country (the UK) has been through so many ups and downs in terms of that,” she shares.

With the film’s casting, particularly Halle Bailey’s lead role as The Little Mermaid creating a firestorm of dialogue online leading up to the release, Laird underscores the importance of diversity.

“If you don’t see your reflection, if you are not reflected, then anyone can define you or maybe you don’t exist. Representation is basically saying- here we are,” she declares.

“It’s not just suddenly putting people of different races into the same stories for the same audiences. That’s not really diversity. If your audience is the same having colorful people in these roles is not really diversity. The fact that something like The Little Mermaid has targeted diverse audiences, has brought on set black makeup crew, for Halle and her looks. Do you know what I mean? It’s actually much closer to what you want in terms of representation,” Laird adds.

Of her first time seeing the film on the big screen, she shares, “Listen, I was not brought up the Little Mermaid. I saw it much later as an adult. We were on set without the full scope of the vision. So much of that is CGI and so on that’s brought in afterwards. And so, to see it on screen and get completely sucked into a world…seduced into the magic and the imagination of it was just a truly special thing.”