“Insecure“ star Issa Rae is debuting in two romance films this year, and both of her leading co-stars are men of color. The HBO comedian and actress recently sat down with Variety Magazine and talked about how she is growing tired of people asking her questions about diversity and the lack of appreciation that women in Hollywood receive for their work.
The actress recently hosted the two-part live Oscar’s nomination presentation this year with actor John Cho. While many people of color were not represented at the Oscars, Rae implied that she is doing her part in employing people of color and she is fed up with people questioning her about diversity.
She said, “I don’t feel like it’s up to me to answer those questions. Like, I’m doing the work. I’m out here. I’m employing who I need to employ, I’m telling the stories that I need to tell,” she commented. “Those questions need to be asked to the powers-that-be. It needs to be asked to the white people who run this industry.”
The comedian starred in the February release of “The Photograph” with actor Lakeith Stanfield, and while the film is still playing in theaters, people cannot stop talking about her up-coming rom-com “The Lovebirds” starring Pakistani-American stand-up comedian, Kumail Nanjiani.
Fans suspect people are excited for the upcoming film because viewers get a chance to see two different people of color fall in love on-screen. Most interracial movies in Hollywood seemingly center around the struggles of people dating in a “black-and-white” relationship.
Rae opened up to Variety Magazine and said, “Every time there’s an interracial romance, it feels like it centers on whiteness, and it doesn’t have to. The star continued by saying, “Just so you know, there are people who don’t procreate with just white people.””
The comedian made headlines in 2017 when she attended the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards and a reporter asked her who was she rooting for in spite of her show “Insecure” not being nominated for an Emmy.
She responded by saying, “I’m rooting for um…everybody black.” Some of the black nominees that year included Tracee Ellis Ross for her role in “Black-ish” as well as Lena Waithe who broke the record as the first African-American woman to be nominated for a writing Emmy for her piece on “Master of None.”
The actress and executive producer is keeping busy. Season 4 of her hit sitcom “Insecure” is set to premiere April 12 on HBO.
