It feels like a whole ass decade since the cast of Insecure pulled up to our living rooms and given us the dose of both humor and reality we didn't know we needed, but if you were wondering what Issa Rae was doing during her time off, it certainly wasn't… taking time off.
In the last 12 months, Issa invested in both a coffee shop and streaming analytics business, launched a record label, announced her leading role in not one, but two major motion pictures, and dropped the premiere date of Season 4 of Insecure and we're pretty sure that sis isn't human.
While it may seem like there's a lot on Issa's plate, that only proves that this 35-year-old Inglewood-based entrepreneur is ready to eat. Having multiple streams of income always pays off, and in a recent interview with Who What Wear, Issa broke down why not getting caught in your comfort zone is the key to securing a bag. According to Issa, while she found success as a screenwriter and actress, she's on a mission to make use of her other gifts, too. She told the publication:
"I want to try different things and see what I can do. I don't want to just play myself, so I want to be able to experiment. Some of the things that I have on the slate to actually act in are very different. I don't want to get caught in a comfort zone. I don't want anybody to be able to put me in a box."
Living up to the expectations of others can be exhausting and Issa says she's dead ass tired of it. In her latest role in the romantic drama, The Photograph, Issa says that she was intentional about pushing her boundaries and offering fans a side of her that we wouldn't normally expect:
"I think people are just expecting me to be funny, and the character just lost her mom, so she's going through it. Obviously, there are elements of humor within the movie, but that's not the driving part of the character, which is new for me because I do lean on humor. It's been a defense mechanism for a lot of my life. That's my go-to, I guess, because my comfort zone is humor. So to not be able to lean on that in this film was interesting."
The present is a present and no one can truly be sure of what the future holds, but Issa knows that her ability to leverage her talents is a gift in and of itself. In the feature, Issa emphasized the importance of keeping your options (and your opportunities) open.
"This year will determine whether or not I have longevity on a particular side. If these movies do well, then I'll have more opportunities. If they don't, I might not. But I'm not a person who puts all my eggs in one basket. I have too many baskets."
You won't be good at everything, and it's a leader's job to hire people that are the best at what they do. Along with constantly seeking new opportunities, Issa says delegation has been essential to making her multi-hyphenate hustle a success:
"There's a lot that I love to do. So I love being behind the scenes. I love producing. I love writing. I love business. We have a new record label, and even there, crafting other artists in an area where I'm weak—I can't sing. I'm not a rapper. I'm not an artist, but to be able to work with people who have that talent and to lend what I know to help their careers is very exciting."
To read the full interview, click here!
Featured image by Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com
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While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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