Meghan Markle & Issa Rae Open Up About Setting Boundaries As Black Women In Hollywood

"I think a high tide raises all ships — we're all going to succeed, so let's make sure it's really great because it's a shared success for everybody. But I also know that I will find myself cowering and tiptoeing into a room — I don't know if you ever do that, the thing that I find the most embarrassing — when you're saying a sentence and the intonation goes up like it's a question,” she explained.

“And you're like, 'Oh my God, stop!' Stop whispering and tiptoeing around and say what it is you need,” she continued. “You're allowed to set a boundary, you're allowed to be clear. It does not make you demanding, it does not make you difficult. It makes you clear."

While they both agree that they don’t mind being particular, displaying anger was something Issa had to be cautious about. Issa explained that she "can't lose my cool, I can't do that, especially as a Black woman, but also just even as a public figure now.”

“Because people are looking for ways to justify their perception of you. That doesn't mean I don't get angry. That might mean that I will vent my frustrations to someone that I trust, get it out of my system and then go in fix mode. And I think even personality-wise, I'm always like, I don't want to sit in my anger too long anyway because what does that do? I want to work on fixing something, but I want to be allowed to have that emotion because it's a natural…like, it's an emotion."

Before ending their conversation Meghan praised Issa for how she writes female characters on her shows calling them "nuanced, layered, multifaceted women." And she reflected on her time going on auditions as an actress and the negative stereotypes she saw when reading for Black roles.

"I mean, I remember when I was auditioning, the idea of even Black roles, I remember those casting sheets where the description of the character, she always had to have an edge or an attitude," she recalled.

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