- 12 minutes ago
Issa Rae talks about learning from three seasons of television, female friendship, and removing Lawrence from the story in Insecure with Sesali Bowen.
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00:00Hey guys, I'm Cecily Bowen, Senior Entertainment Writer at Refinery29.
00:04And I am here with a woman who really needs no introduction.
00:08The woman we all stand, the icon, the legend herself,
00:11and the creator and star of HBO's Insecure, Issa Rae.
00:15Thank you so much for joining me.
00:17Thank you, that was a pleasure.
00:17I truly stand a legend, honestly.
00:19I just want to make that known.
00:21I cannot.
00:22So this is season three, Three Years of Insecure,
00:26which is like a show you created to fill this void of what you felt was a lack
00:30in characters that were like, that you could relate to,
00:33that were like your sisters and your friends.
00:34Like, how does that feel?
00:35You are three years in it.
00:37It feels great.
00:37Amanda Cecily just texted me the other day, like,
00:40bitch, can you believe it's been three seasons?
00:42Like, we're on season three of the show and I have to be like, yes,
00:45I mean, I can't believe it.
00:46We actually made it because it's just, you know, so many shows haven't.
00:50And I'm just, I feel so blessed to work with these people every day,
00:53to be able to tell stories that resonate with people and it's just, it's fun.
00:57So how do you think that you've changed over the few years that you've been
01:00working on this show?
01:01Like, what have you learned?
01:02How have you evolved just as a person, as a creator?
01:04I don't think I ever expected to be in a position of just like being like
01:08a quote unquote boss.
01:10Just like, I have to take over HBO.
01:11Not even that, but just like, you just, as a creator, you're just like,
01:14I just want to write stories and tell them.
01:15I don't know what that entails.
01:16And I feel like from the internet, you have to wear so many hats, you know,
01:20to market, to put your show out there, to get viewers.
01:23And there's so many things that you're doing behind the scenes where it's more
01:27than just like writing and telling a story.
01:29And so in that way, I've just become more savvy.
01:32I've treated every episode like a learning experience because I never went to
01:34film school formally.
01:36And I want to have longevity in this industry.
01:38So I'm just looking at, you know, peers and people that I look up to to just be
01:42like, how can I make sure that I make a stamp and a mark in the industry
01:46where I feel proud?
01:47So you've mentioned that season three of Insecure is going to be all about
01:50toxic masculinity.
01:52Why was that important at this moment to talk about that?
01:56So I actually didn't say that.
01:58It's so interesting.
01:59Like I did a recarpet interview at the Peabody's and they were like,
02:04what are the things that you haven't explored in seasons?
02:07And I listed a bunch of things and toxic masculinity was like, oh,
02:11that'd be cool to talk about.
02:12Cause I think it's interesting just as it relates to black women.
02:14And then the headline next thing I knew was, oh, Insecure season three theme is
02:18toxic masculinity, which has been happening a lot for this season.
02:22So I'm anxious for people to see.
02:23And I think we've explored that to a degree within seasons, but that's not by any
02:28means the theme of the season.
02:30Okay.
02:30So perfect segue.
02:31Actually, let's talk about Lawrence who I can't stand.
02:33Um, so, you know, we know that Lawrence will not be a part of season three.
02:40And that is something that you did talk about at Insecure Fest, where you just said like,
02:44that's real life.
02:45And like Issa has to, the character at least has to explore life without him and what that
02:49is going to look like.
02:50What is it?
02:51I'm really, I think that that's so real.
02:52And I'm really interested in what it's like kind of being in the writer's room and
02:57regurgitating these stories about these codes of dating and like what happens during a
03:01breakup and what should and shouldn't happen.
03:02I'm really curious about like, does it just feel like girl talk?
03:05It does.
03:06It feels like dinner party.
03:07It feels like, and so many of the writers share their, their lives and what they're
03:10going through at that moment.
03:12It feels like therapy in, in some ways too, but that idea to not, you know, have him came
03:18from Apprentice and I, Apprentice and I, Apprentice who's the showrunner, we meet every
03:23season at a hotel, cabana, by the pool, have some drinks and talk about where we want to
03:27go with the season.
03:28And we were going through Issa's stories, Molly's stories, and then when it came to
03:31Lawrence, I was like, we, we closed a lot of doors this season.
03:35What if we, what if we didn't have him?
03:38And Apprentice is so partial to Lawrence, like that's his dude.
03:42And he's been so central to like, you know, making sure that Lawrence is like a whole character.
03:47Sometimes as women, we write ideal.
03:49Yes.
03:49We either write ideal dudes or we write trash dudes.
03:53Right.
03:53And so he's always been, you know, the perfect balance of being like, nah, dudes wouldn't do
03:57this, like whatever.
03:58And so he was just like, yeah, man, it makes sense that, you know, he wouldn't be around.
04:03And so also she's staying with, with Daniel.
04:06Yes.
04:06And so there's an opportunity to show a different male perspective, which really, really excited
04:12me.
04:12And so that felt like we were starting over with the season in the writer's room.
04:16Just like, okay, how do we shape who Daniel is?
04:18Because we've only seen him through Issa's eyes.
04:19Because we've never seen who he is.
04:21Right.
04:21And how do we make him a whole dimensional person to also inform Issa's story?
04:26Right.
04:26Well, I'd say good riddance to Lawrence.
04:29But switching gears, the beauty of Insecure is that it's never been just about like this
04:33relationship drama.
04:34Really at the heart of it, it's about Issa and Molly and as black women and their friendship,
04:39at least for a lot of viewers, like that is a big core of the show and why so many
04:43people
04:43love it.
04:43And I'm really curious about how female friendships have been important in sustaining you at this
04:49point in your career, are you finding yourself having to really cling on to that sisterhood
04:53more?
04:53A hundred percent.
04:55Like I would be nowhere without my female friendships, you know?
04:59Every female friend that I have has been in my productions, has helped behind the scenes,
05:05has gassed me up when I was like, I don't think I should do this.
05:08I'm going to just take this temp job, has told people about my stuff.
05:11Like there's such a huge part of my life now because, you know, in the industry, it's hard.
05:15Yeah.
05:15In any industry, when you're just surrounded by the same people who do what you do,
05:18sometimes it can be competitive, sometimes, you know, there can be resentment that's
05:23built, or sometimes it's just like you have tunnel vision for that specific thing.
05:26You don't realize there's an outside world.
05:27And so a lot of my friends are outside of the industry.
05:30And so to just be grounded and in touch with like, this isn't everything.
05:34Like if this doesn't work out for me one day, you know, I tried, but I know that, you
05:38know, I can do other things and there's a world outside of this and that I have a support
05:42system in there and vice versa.
05:44Like, you know, I would do anything for them.
05:45And so even in the show, we're very honest with each other.
05:48My female friends and I in the show, that's, that's what we also want to represent.
05:52It's just like that hardcore female friendship.
05:55Right.
05:55So how does it feel to be nominated for your first Emmy?
06:00That's huge.
06:01It's dope.
06:03I think what I'm most excited about is that it was just in time for the promotion of season
06:06three.
06:07Like, it's just eyeballs at the end of the day to see that the work that we're all doing
06:12to try to make this show the best way that we can, but it was just, you know, it was
06:16dope to be, to hear about it next to Marce Martin, who, you know, was blackish and who I look
06:22at her and just having worked with her for the last two months, I'm just so impressed.
06:26And I see the future in her and I'm just like, Lord, please just protect her because
06:30she's just so pure and she's so talented.
06:33And I see like, picturing a movie at 10 years old.
06:35Brilliant.
06:36She's brilliant.
06:37And it's getting made.
06:37Like, I'm just, I see her as a future.
06:39So to be alongside her for that announcement was just, you know, it was, it was dope.
06:43Yeah, that's amazing.
06:44Well, thank you so much.
06:45I really appreciate it.
06:47Make sure you guys tune in this Sunday, August 12th, season three of Insecure.
06:50Get your Twitter fingers ready.
06:52Oh, guys.
06:52We, we are hitting the streets on Sunday.
06:55Thank you so much, Issa.
06:56Thank you so much.
06:56Thank you for having me.