In July, while preparing for “Insecure’”s fifth and final season, Issa Rae, married her longtime boyfriend, Louis Diame, in a private ceremony in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France.
Now, the “Insecure” creator has landed the cover story for the September issue of “SELF” magazine, where she explains why she hilariously referred to her wedding as an “Impromptu photo shoot” on Instagram.
“My photo shoot. I stand by it,” Issa jokes. “I still try to be private about my personal life, but that was something that I knew was going to be shared, and I just wanted to share it on my own terms.”
Rae says as much as she looked forward to her vacation in France, she “foolishly” never stopped working. The workaholic says she was editing the final season of “Insecure” and filming her upcoming HBO Max series, “Rap S***” in Miami up until her wedding day in July.
She admits it was hard “coming back” to L.A. after a “fun, blissful” vacation and wedding in France. Although she’s unsure whether she wants kids, she’s “extremely happy” about life as a newlywed.
“I like my life, I like this selfishness, and I know that I have a window. I’ve always felt that way, that women, Black women especially—unless you’re Viola Davis or Angela Bassett—you have a window when people are going to want to continue to see you and see what you can do,” she explains. “Then there are so many limitations placed upon you, and that does keep me up. I want to do as much as I can while I still can. I know it’s not the proper mentality to think that kids will slow you down, but I do feel that way.”
In the meantime, Issa Rae has plenty of other titles to keep her busy. In 2019, she became co-owner and partner of Inglewood’s latest Black-owned coffee shop, Hilltop Coffee and Kitchen. Last October, Rae launched her new media company, Hoorae, which houses “Insecure” and other television, film, and digital productions.
The 36-year-old actress also works with Destination Crenshaw, a 1.3-mile-long public space that will run along Crenshaw Boulevard. The space celebrates art and culture in the Black community as part of the new Metro rail expansion to Los Angeles International Airport.
“Living here and even having my office in South L.A. and Inglewood and just seeing what we don’t have,” Rae tells Self. “And the only time that resources are put into our communities are when white people are moving in, that’s so frustrating.”
Rae plans to continue using her platforms to push for Black ownership and create a pipeline of Black wealth and economic advancement that mirrors other wealthy areas of the Los Angeles metropolis.
“Part of what I want to do is just making sure that we’re able to have those in places, and that means prioritizing our wellness,” Rae explains. “That means prioritizing our health centers and making sure that people are there not to dismiss our health concerns but to be well-versed in them. It sounds like a utopian, idealist community or society for us, but I do think that it’s possible.”
Issa Rae’s hit television show “Insecure” returns to HBO on Oct. 24, 2021.
