It’s not always easy to write a season finale of a hit show — just ask Issa Rae. The actress, who co-created and co-wrote HBO Max’s hit series Insecure, wanted to make sure that she left fans — and herself — happy when the show wrapped on Sunday, December 6.
However, Rae, 36, admitted she and the writers “had different ends in mind” when putting pen to paper. Though Issa Dee (played by Issa herself) and Lawrence Walker (played by Jay Ellis) have an off-again, on-again relationship for the most of the series, the leading lady decided she wanted them to be together in the end.
“As the season progressed and I became Issa Dee — you know, it’s one thing to write for her and then to become her — I found myself missing him,” she said of Lawrence. “And I found that, in a sense, we were denying Issa her happiness. One of our writers, Laura Kittrell, was just like, with that episode we basically said that they’re soulmates, and to deny Issa her soulmate is, in a sense, denying her her happiness. I think they needed that time to grow apart.”
She added, “Lawrence for sure needed that time to reconcile his relationship with Condola and to see the blessing that Elijah was in his life and to grow on his own. And I think separately, as they had done before, they became ready for one another. I think so much of the themes of the last couple of seasons have been that happiness is a choice, and Issa daring to be happy with Lawrence felt fitting to me. But it was a journey. We both went on journeys.”
The show, which is based on Rae’s life in her 20s and 30s, has become really special to the California native.
“In some ways, I feel like I’m not saying goodbye because she’s so much of me, especially with this last season. We have merged in so many ways,” she admitted. “But beyond that, like her friends and her world and her love life was really just fun to play out, and a lot of the decisions that she made, however messy, I got to play out in the stories that we got to tell. And in my own life, I tend to be a bit more reserved with my choices. I love chaos, but I don’t get to act on that chaos a lot. And so I will miss that part.”
Looking back, Rae confessed that she has “grown as a person doing this show.”
“I’ve grown in the industry and become more confident about my role in this industry,” she said. “I know who Issa Dee is. I know she’s grown from season 1 to 5, in addition to my comedic voice.”
However, don’t expect a reboot anytime soon — if ever. “I don’t think so. I’ve been saying a strong ‘no’ to movies and all that. I love leaving things as they are, as kind of a legacy. But as like a reunion? Without a doubt. I want to see everybody again,” she gushed.
