Issa Rae is at the top of her game. Her hit HBO series, Insecure, is heading into its third season, she's developing a show on rich kids living in Windsor Hills called Sweet Life, producing another HBO show called Him or Her on the "dating life of a bisexual black man," and co-starring in Little with Black-ish's Marsai Martin. But Rae is afraid failure is just around the corner.
"That could go to shit," said Rae in a GQ profile. "This could be the worst season we've ever had. And then what? Then people are all of a sudden like, 'Oh, okay.' Then the calls stop. It's like stand-up comedy: In order to eventually succeed, you have to bomb. That's what every comedian says—that's when the fear goes away. And I feel like I'm still fearful because I haven't publicly bombed yet, in terms of my career. Yeah, Insecure is successful now, but where's my bomb coming? Where are my Will Smith bombs coming? Where, where is that happening?"
It might come as a surprise since Smith is living his best life and showing us all on Instagram nowadays, but Smith's career circa After Earth wasn't looking too good.
"He went through a period when he was depressed, when three or four of his movies in a row weren't number one at the box office. So for him that was terrible. And now he's talking about, 'You gotta fail, you gotta fail,'" she said. “And I don't want to make Instagram speeches about failing. I don't." So far, so good for Rae.
Insecure's third season arrives on HBO on Aug. 12.
