Issa Rae Explains Why ‘Insecure’ Is Ending After 5 Seasons
As fans wait for season 5 of Insecure, Issa Rae is reveling in all of the love. Rae is the creator and executive producer of the show and despite her sadness that the show is ending, Rae says she’s excited for what’s next. The actor has new projects on the horizon.
Issa Rae says ending ‘Insecure’ is for her personal growth
Insecure fans were stunned when Rae announced that the fifth season would be the final. In January 2021, Rae took to Twitter to share the news, writing, “Very excited to film our fifth and final season! We couldn’t have told a complete story without the tremendous support of our audience and the faith of @HBO. See y’all soon! #InsecureHBO.”
theGrio reports that in a recent interview with People Magazine, Rae says the decision was well thought out. “I’ve been wrapping my head around this since candidly, season 3,” she said. “But I’m so grateful to be able to play this character, who is obviously a version of me, and in the same way that I want this character to grow, I want to be able to grow too.”
Related: ‘Insecure’ Season 5: Release Date, Plot Details, and Everything Else We Know
As for why it’s the perfect time to end the show, Rae says, “I think that’s what comes with it — I’ve played her for a long time, and I have so much more that I want to do.”
She also promises that this season will be one to remember. To do so, Rae is staying as present as possible during the filming process. “Being on set every day, I’m definitely taking it all in on a different level now, just in terms of, ‘Wow, I love this family. This is my family,’ and we’ve done so much and these people are incredible, and I feel so blessed to work with them.” She added, “I know I’ll look back on this time very, very fondly, as I do now.”
Rae recently took home the “Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series” for Insecure at the NAACP Image Awards in March 2021.
Issa Rae’s career is booming with acting opportunities and development deals
Just because Insecure is coming to an end doesn’t mean Rae is slowing down. In fact, she’s busier than ever. She’s the executive producer of HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show. Prior to the premiere of Insecure, she signed a two-year overall deal with HBO in 2016. She renewed the deal for an additional three years in 2018.
Rae has re-upped her commitment with the cable network, inking a new five-year overall deal that combines her Hoorae media label. The new deal gives HBO, HBO Max, and Warner Bros. exclusive rights to her work in TV. She also has a first-look film deal that spans WarnerMedia brands, including Warner Bros. Pictures Group, New Line, and HBO Max.
Related: ‘Insecure’ Season 5 Is in the Works, but Don’t Expect It to Air Anytime Soon
Of the new deal, Rae told Variety, “It’s really exciting to have that flexibility and just deepen the relationship that we already have,” she said. “Hoorae already had at least 15 projects in various stages of development with them, so we’d been working with them on the drama side, the unscripted side, and the documentaries side for a couple of years now. When people believe in you and build with you, I tend to want to further that relationship. That’s just been a staple of mine with so many of the people that I work with.”
Her acting career is also in full swing. In the past two years, she starred alongside Marsai Martin in Little, the Netflix comedy Love Birds, and the romantic film The Photograph.
