Where Is Maryam Hassan Now? The Tomika Who Became Mayrehnate
She was the last one cast and the first one you remembered — Tomika, the shy kid with the enormous voice, the "songbird" of School of Rock (2003). Maryam Hassan was nine at the audition, ten in the film, and the movie remains her only acting role. She didn't fade; she chose: music over movies, and she's been choosing it ever since.
Hassan now releases R&B as Mayrehnate. This is the verified story of where Maryam Hassan is now.
The Peak: Tomika and the Name She Chose (2003)
Born January 27, 1993, in Brooklyn, New York, Hassan auditioned for Richard Linklater's School of Rock at nine — and was the last kid cast, "a little bit more rushed for me than the others." Then the detail that defines her: on the first day, they told her the character's name was Laurie. "I was like, Uh, I'm not a Laurie... 'This doesn't sound like me.' I asked some people if I could change her name to Tomika." She pulled it "out of the sky" — "it had a little more flavor... I don't know Laurie. I know Tomika" — and they said yes.
Nine years old, renaming her own character. The confidence of that move — the self-knowledge — is the whole story in miniature. Tomika, the shy vocalist who finds her voice through rock, was named by the girl who already knew hers.
The performance: the small child with the big voice, the scene with Jack Black about weight that she later said "definitely hits different today" — "as a child I didn't realize the fullll impact of the scene but it definitely hits different today. Glad to have played a part in such an important moment/scene" (April 2021). The film's most quietly radical moment, carried by a ten-year-old who understood it better than the adults did.
The Choice: Music Over Movies
After School of Rock, she auditioned — "every single day after school... maybe get a callback" — and hit the wall: "I was 10 years old at the time, but I was bigger in size and taller than the average kid that age. I looked more like I was 15." Casting directors didn't know what to do with her. "It was discouraging. After a few months I told my mother that I wasn't interested in doing it anymore and I wanted to focus solely on music."
Read that again: ten years old, diagnosing the industry's failure and prescribing her own cure. The girl who renamed her character renamed her career — from actress to musician, by choice, at an age when most kids can't choose dinner.
The musical education was already underway: raised on R&B and soul ("the former of which was a precursor to rock and roll"), she grew into punk rock — Paramore, "that adrenaline-inducing thrash of guitars, bass, drums, and vocals" that takes you "from zero to 100." The Tomika voice, trained on soul, electrified by rock. The foundation was always the voice; the film just gave it a stage.
Mayrehnate: The R&B Career (2020–)
She performs and releases as Mayrehnate (pronounced "Mare-En-Nate") — singer, songwriter, vocal arranger, for herself and other artists. The discography: R&B single "Baby It's You" (October 2020), single "Takeout" (December 2020 — added to Apple Music's "New in R&B" playlist), the EP Plush (January 2021 — featured on Apple Music's new R&B releases, charted #23 on iTunes), and the single "Feel a Way" — "silky tone, angelic harmonies, and addictive melodies" with an "undeniable 'feel-good' vibe" (IMDb).
The covers kept the Tomika flame lit: her YouTube channel (Trayce) features the big voice on Rihanna's "You Da One" and a SoundCloud Janet Jackson "Any Time, Any Place" that proves "her pipes are absolutely still piping." The shy kid's voice, all grown up, doing what it always did — filling the room.
And the day job: makeup artist in New York City — the working artist's parallel career, the craft that pays while the music builds. Brooklyn born, NYC based, the hometown girl who stayed home and built the life around the voice.
The Person: The Voice, Kept
Hassan's public footprint is the music and the occasional reflection — the 2021 Vulture interview (the Tomika-naming story), the 2023 RadioX anniversary piece (the punk-rock education), the tweets about the weight scene. No scandals, no reinventions — just the steady work of a vocalist who knew at ten what she wanted.
The School of Rock kids' reunions find her as the one who most completely became her character's promise: Tomika found her voice in the film; Hassan kept hers in life. The other kids scattered — Dartmouth (Tsai), law (Korsmo's brother-in-spirit), tragedy (Clark, 2021). Hassan stayed on the path she chose at ten: the music, the voice, the name she picked herself.
She's 33, singing, arranging, doing makeup, living in the city that raised her. The last one cast, still standing. Tomika knew.
Where Is Maryam Hassan Now?
As of 2026, Maryam Hassan releases R&B as Mayrehnate (EP Plush, 2021; singles on streaming) and works as a makeup artist in New York City. School of Rock (2003) remains her only acting role — by her choice, made at age ten.
She renamed her character at nine. She renamed her career at ten. The names stuck.
The Weight Scene: The Moment That Hits Different
Every School of Rock retrospective comes back to it: the scene where Tomika and Dewey Finn talk about weight — her asking why he won't go on a diet, his "because I like to eat" answer. In 2003, it played as comedy. In 2021, Hassan tweeted what everyone had come to feel: "As a child I didn't realize the fullll impact of the scene but it definitely hits different today. Glad to have played a part in such an important moment/scene."
The scene's afterlife is a case study in how films age: the fat jokes that curdled, the body-positivity readings that redeemed, the ten-year-old at the center who understood — even then — that something real was happening. Hassan's adult reflection is gracious rather than condemnatory: glad to have been part of it, aware of its weight (pun intended), owning the complexity.
It's also the scene that proves the casting: Tomika needed a kid who could be vulnerable and strong in the same breath, who could ask the uncomfortable question without cruelty. Hassan, at ten, had that — the directness of the child who renamed her own character, applied to the film's most delicate moment. The scene works because she does.
The fan enthusiasm "still surrounds that moment" (TheList), two decades on — the rare comedy scene that got more interesting with age. Tomika asked the question; the culture spent twenty years answering it. And Hassan, watching from the R&B world she built, gets to be glad. She earned the gladness.
Then vs Now: Two Chapters
| Then (2003) | Now (2020s) |
|---|---|
| Tomika in School of Rock (2003); only acting role; age 10 | R&B artist Mayrehnate; EP Plush (2021, #23 iTunes) |
| Last cast; renamed "Laurie" to "Tomika" herself | Singles: "Baby It's You," "Takeout," "Feel a Way" |
| Quit auditioning: "focus solely on music" | Makeup artist in NYC; YouTube covers (Trayce) |
| The shy kid with the big voice | 33, singing, arranging — the voice, kept |
Maryam Hassan chose music at ten and never un-chose it. Tomika would approve.
Frequently asked questions
Who played Tomika in School of Rock?
Maryam Hassan played Tomika — the shy vocalist with the big voice — in School of Rock (2003). It remains her only acting role.
Why is the character named Tomika?
Hassan renamed her: the script said "Laurie," but at nine she told the production "I'm not a Laurie... I know Tomika. I pulled that name out of the sky." They agreed.
Why did Maryam Hassan quit acting?
After months of discouraging auditions (casting directors didn't know what to do with a 10-year-old who looked 15), she told her mother she "wasn't interested in doing it anymore and I wanted to focus solely on music."
What is Mayrehnate?
Hassan's R&B artist name (pronounced "Mare-En-Nate") — singer, songwriter, and vocal arranger. EP Plush (Jan 2021, #23 iTunes, Apple Music new R&B); singles "Baby It's You" (2020), "Takeout" (2020), "Feel a Way."
What does Maryam Hassan do now?
Releases R&B as Mayrehnate (streaming) and works as a makeup artist in New York City; YouTube covers on her Trayce channel.
How old is Maryam Hassan?
She was born January 27, 1993, in Brooklyn, New York — 33 in 2026. She auditioned for School of Rock at nine.
Was School of Rock her only movie?
Yes — her only acting credit (IMDb lists 1 actress credit). She auditioned afterward but chose music instead.
Where is Maryam Hassan now?
As of 2026: Brooklyn-born, NYC-based R&B singer (Mayrehnate) and makeup artist — the Tomika voice, all grown up, on her own terms.