The first full trailer for Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore's Insecure has arrived, giving fans of Rae's Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl memoir and web series a glimpse at the HBO show first announced back in 2013. Insecure, co-created by Rae and Wilmore, centers on Issa's path to figuring out this weird thing called life by coming to terms with a complacent boyfriend and the general awkwardness of her daily work experiences.
"I always talk about Curb Your Enthusiasm," Rae toldTIME of Insecure last week, noting that she does not consider it representative of the quintessential black-woman experience. "I'm not Jewish, and there's a lot of stuff that's [culturally] specific to that show that I didn't get, that I had to look up! And that's fine—I still enjoyed the show. I feel that way about our show."
Rae is joined in the main cast by Yvonne Orji as Molly, a corporate attorney and her character's BFF, and Jay Ellis, who plays her boyfriend. The first episode was co-penned by Wilmore, who toldTIME he was immediately blown away by Rae's sense of artistry. "I loved the fact [that] she's an entrepreneur," Wilmore said. "She did it on her own. And then when I met with her, I was even more pleased."
Responding to fans inquiries as to why she chose the title Insecure, Rae said she simply wanted to encapsulate her and her friends' unique experiences. "It's because there’s this narrative that's going around that's awesome, that black women are fierce, they're strong, they're flawless," Rae said. "But I know that life. And my friends definitely don't know that life. I wanted to center a show around, like, weak black women and the uncertainty they feel on that journey to get to greatness. It's like the prequel to #BlackGirlMagic."
HBO is clearly stoked on the series, as Deadlineannounced last month that Rae recently inked a first-look producing deal with the network. Under the two-year deal, Rae will develop and produce additional original programming "focused on diverse voices" for all HBO platforms.
Insecure kicks off its eight-episode first season Oct. 9 on HBO and HBO NOW.
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