As fans prepare for the beginning of the end for Issa & crew on Insecure, creator and star Issa Rae (Little) spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the show’s impact on fans and how it will be remembered after it comes to a close this fall.
“I didn’t anticipate how much in their feelings people would be and how much they would put on us to deliver,” Rae told The Hollywood Reporter at the season five premiere. She initially wanted to drop the news alongside the season four finale, thinking it would be a casual announcement. However, HBO urged her to hold off the news.
“It’s done now, so nothing I can do about it!” she said addressing the fans dreading Sunday’s premiere.
Insecure follows the lives of late-twenty-year-olds Issa (played by Rae) and her friend Molly (Yvonne Orji) as they navigate life through their uncomfortable situations and racy tribulations. Meanwhile, Issa’s “will they, won’t they” partner, Lawrence (Jay Ellis), struggles to find his footing with his career and relationships.
The show first aired in 2017 and was a success among critics and viewers alike. It has since ran for four seasons and will be starting its final season this Sunday, October 24.
Season 4 left fans wondering where Issa’s relationships with both Molly and Lawrence would go, as she and Molly seemingly ended their season-long feud, and Lawrence dropped the unexpected news that Candola is expecting.
“I had been talking a lot of shit all season, like people asking me, ‘Is it going to be bittersweet?’ And I was like, ‘More sweet than bitter!'” Rae told The Hollywood Reporter. “And then literally filming myself crying on the way to set like, ‘What is wrong with me?’ It caught me. But I’m just happy. I’m so grateful I got to work with these amazing people, and I’m in celebration mode.”
When talking about bringing the show to a close, Rae said, “We always talked about this journey that we wanted to follow from being insecure to being comfortable in your insecurities to being securely insecure.” Insecure made history in the representation of Black people in the media. “[Insecure] was for us, by us and opened the doors for a lot of your faves.”
Prentice Penny (The Hustle), the executive producer and Rae’s partner in the series, talked about the call to end the series on season five. “It isn’t a show you can just churn out mass things. It’s like a shoe cobbler that makes eight shoes. It’s like these are the only shoes I make and this is all I can make this year. That’s just our DNA,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “We never wanted to overstay our welcome.”