As I read through the GQ Magazine interview with Issa Rae, I found that I was even more taken by the film creator, than I already was… (and trust me, I’m a big fan. Much like her Insecure character, of which I have to admit, I’m an astute fan; she comes off as a bit of an odd ball. Well done to GQ staff writer, Zach Baron who managed to convey her personality in the most concise manner.
As I read through, I found myself giggling between sentences as I felt as though I had been teleported to the actress’ head. From her witty comebacks to her total oblivion of her fierceness, she can’t seem to understand what the fuss is all about. She’s just Issa.
I found myself clamoring for an angle in which to drive conversation about this interview until I noticed that the Stanford graduate was probably the most relatable star I had come across. If she could make it, then there’s hope for the rest of us right?
I’ve enumerated a few of these relatable characteristics below:
She is unabashedly BLACK and expresses it with no inhibitions
Now, there’s black and there’s Rae because she says exactly what the rest of us are thinking.
Rae not only embodies black girl magic, she is unapologetic about her need to see black people rise to prominence. In a viral red carpet video for the Emmys last year, when asked who she’d like to see bag an award, she announced that she was rooting for everybody black in her typical matter-of-fact tone. Social media loved it so much, it got a T-shirt.
In the interview, she states that she was shocked when she found that she didn’t have a 90% majority black audience. She also pays tribute to black sitcoms such as Family Matters, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Moesha and A Different World in this photoshoot. This comes as no shock to some of her avid fans, as she has been very opinionated about her passion for black people and their empowerment in times past. In this interview, she makes reference to her hit show being birthed from her reality as a black girl growing up in a distinctly black neighbourhood in LA-the same neighbourhood that the show was being shot.
She too gets overwhelmed
“A lot going on that I didn’t anticipate”
Issa is described as ‘sighing’ when she says this.
The interviewer describes her demeanor as ‘stressed’ as she speaks about upcoming projects as not only does she play creator and actor for Insecure, she is also producing a series for HBO entitled, Him or Her. Then she also has a script for another show she is developing, called Sweet life; and an untitled drama written by The Turner House author Angela Flournoy. She was also reading scripts for other shows and for movie parts she was being offered in between takes on the Insecure set.
On her stardom and rise so far, the actor says she is fearful. She says of her success and impending commencement of the third season:
“This could be the worst season we’ve ever had. And then what? Then people are all of a sudden like, ‘Oh, okay.’ Then the calls stop. It’s like stand-up comedy: In order to eventually succeed, you have to bomb. That’s what every comedian says—that’s when the fear goes away. And I feel like I’m still fearful because I haven’t publicly bombed yet, in terms of my career. Yeah, Insecure is successful now, but where’s my bomb coming? Where are my Will Smith bombs coming? Where, where is that happening?”
Her co-actor, Yvonne Orji, who plays ‘Molly’ in the hit series also mentions that Issa really does embody the unsure character we’ve come to love and sometimes hate, speaking of Issa’s eponymous role in Insecure.
“She really does give off an awkward energy. She really is shy. She has a hard out. She has limits. She really is this person. It’s not an act.”
She has also made mistakes in her career
You know the saying, ‘not all that glitters is gold’? Issa has also had to learn that the hard way. Mistake number 1 would be her first book entitled: ‘Awkward black girl’ which detailed explicit details of her father’s unfaithfulness in his marriage and details of her personal life. Looking back now, she admits regretting the decision to publish the book.
“Just being such a private person, going back, I wouldn’t ever write about my stuff”
Her second mistake, she recounts, was allowing ABC pick apart a film she was producing after she had been introduced by Queen of Shondaland, Shonda Rhimes. ABC bought the show, but the series fell apart in development, as the network picked Rae’s script apart with a constant barrage of notes and changes. It was a formative experience. “I was a mess,” Rae says now.
“I was just like, Yeah, I have this shot, but I don’t want to fuck it up, so I’m just gonna listen to what everybody says.”
“And I just became like fucking clay for people to mold. The Shonda process was, like, the best shit that happened to me, because it gave me confidence to feel like, ‘Oh, I can do this.’ And I feel like ABC took the confidence away.” Rae emerged from the experience determined never to compromise in that way again: “Like, I need to know what the fuck I want to say before I say yes to any opportunity. I need to have a clearer point of view and clear voice.”
This became her drive to find her voice.
When HBO called, the following year, and asked Rae if she had any ideas for a show, she finally felt like she knew the answer.
The 35-year-old shows no signs of slowing down and we love her authentic and almost-absolute abandon for fitting into a perfect paradigm that we see so many stars try to embody. It is refreshing to know that her outlook on life is so real and relatable.
Like many of us she stumbles, then she gets up and figures it out. Perhaps we’ve gotten the former right, it remains that we, like her start to do the work in achieving the latter.
Hi, my name is Moyosola and I am not perfect and neither is Issa Rae but, she’s the bomb.com. So, I can be too.
Photo Credit: GQ
