Issa Rae is a brilliant example of how the entertainment industry is changing, having made her way from YouTube to Hollywood thanks to her resonant, recognizable, and razor-sharp wit. Rae’s route to popularity was paved with unwavering faith in her ability, starting with her time spent growing up in Los Angeles and ending with the creation of the popular online series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.
Issa Rae Net Worth
Issa’s net worth increased significantly from 2021 and 2023, rising from $4 million to $8 million as of July 2023. We weren’t shocked to learn how affluent the actor has gotten since coming into the industry, given Issa’s level of talent and dedication to the field.
Issa Rae is an actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director from the United States. Her estimated net worth is $8 million. The web series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” (2011–2013), which Rae also conceived, wrote, produced, and directed, was where she made her name as J. She co-created, wrote, produced, and starred in the HBO series “Insecure” (2016–2021), for which she is best known.
She has also starred in the films “The Hate U Give” (2018), “Little” (2019), “The Photograph” (2020), and “The Lovebirds” (2020), as well as the television series “A Black Lady Sketch Show” (2019–2021). Issa is the creator of the web series “The Choir” (2013–2015), the HBO Max programs “Sweet Life: Los Angeles” (2021) and “Rap Sh!t” (2022), as well as other projects.
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Issa Rae Early Life
Jo-Issa Rae Diop, also known as Issa Rae, was born in Los Angeles, California, on January 12, 1985. Her father, Abdoulaye, a neonatologist and pediatrician, is from Senegal, while her mother, Delyna, is a Louisiana native who works as a teacher.
Issa has four siblings, and she and her family spent a brief period growing up in Dakar, Senegal. Rae spent her formative years in Potomac, Maryland, where she experienced “things that aren’t considered ‘black,’ like the swim team, street hockey, and Passover dinners with Jewish best friends.”
When Issa was in sixth grade, the family moved back to Los Angeles and settled in the affluent View Park-Windsor Hills area. Her parents divorced while she was a teenager, and she started acting while attending King Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science.
Rae graduated from Stanford University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in African and African-American Studies. She produced music videos, the satirical web series “Dorm Diaries,” stage plays and directed them while she was a student at Stanford.
Issa first met Tracy Oliver at Stanford, where she later co-produced and appeared in “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” Rae and Oliver started taking classes at the New York Film Academy after Rae received her degree and was given a theater fellowship at the Public Theater in New York City.
She thought about attending business or law school, but once “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” became well-known in 2011, she made the decision not to do either.
Issa Rae Career
When “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” made its YouTube debut in 2011, it quickly became popular and attracted media attention. To gather money for the series, Rae and Oliver started a Kickstarter campaign. They got more than 1,900 donations totaling more than $56,000.
She later produced YouTube productions like “The Choir” (2013–2015) and “Roomieloverfriends” (2013–2014) after the web series earned a Shorty Award for Best Web Show in 2012. Issa contributed to a number of short films in 2014, penning “Black Twitter Screening” and producing “Hard Times” and “Protect and Serve.”
Rae made her feature film debut in 2015 with “A Bitter Lime” and also worked on the production of “Killing Lazarus.” She started appearing in the 2016 television series “Insecure,” which ran for five seasons and 44 episodes, garnering several accolades and nominations, including 14 Primetime Emmy nods and three Golden Globe nominations.
The show was recognized at the 2018 Peabody Awards for “creating a series that authentically captures the lives of everyday young, Black people in modern society,” and the American Film Institute listed it among the Top 10 Television Programs of 2017 in its list of honors.
Issa voiced two episodes of the Netflix cartoon series “BoJack Horseman” in addition to playing April Ofrah in the 2018 drama “The Hate U Give,” which is based on the 2017 Angie Thomas book of the same name. Alongside her “The Hate U Give” co-star Regina Hall and “Black-ish” star Marsai Martin, she co-starred in the comedy “Little” in 2019.
In addition, she started producing and guest-starring on HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” Rae appeared in “The Photograph” and “The Lovebirds” alongside Lakeith Stanfield, hosted “Saturday Night Live,” made guest appearances on “Sesame Street” and “#blackAF,” and acted in the HBO film “Coastal Elites” in 2020.
She made an appearance in the 2022 movie “Vengeance,” written and produced by B. J. Novak, best known for his role as Ryan Howard on the NBC sitcom “The Office.” Issa was cast in Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie in April 2022 after it was revealed in June 2021 that she would be lending her voice to Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman in the computer-animated Marvel movie “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”
Issa Rae Personal Life
In July 2021, Issa wed the businessman Louis Diame in France. Rae appeared on the cover of “Essence” magazine’s April 2019 edition, which was the first time she wore her engagement ring in public. Issa has been outspoken about the treatment of African-Americans by the police, and following the shooting of Alton Sterling in 2016, she donated $700,000 to support the education expenses of his children.
She has collaborated with groups like Black Lives Matter and the ACLU and is a supporter of women’s rights and civil rights. On “Insecure,” Rae frequently emphasized Black-owned companies, which she said has caused gentrification in South Los Angeles, where her show was filmed.
Issa Rae Awards and Nominations
Rae has received seven Primetime Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for “Insecure” (2018, 2020, and 2022), Outstanding Comedy Series for “Insecure” (2020), Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for “A Black Lady Sketch Show” (2021), and Outstanding Variety Sketch Series for “A Black Lady Sketch Show” (2020 and 2022).
In addition, “Insecure” won Issa honors from the BET Awards (Best Actress), Black Reel Awards for Television (Outstanding Actress, Comedy Series, and Outstanding Comedy Series), Gracie Allen Awards (Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy or Musical), NAACP Image Awards (Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series).
NAMIC Vision Awards (Best Performance – Comedy), Pena de Prata (Best Actress The show was nominated for Golden Globes, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Gold Derby Awards, International Online Cinema Awards, MTV Movie + TV Awards, National Film and Television Awards, Online Film & Television Association, People’s Choice Awards, and Television Critics Association Awards.
Rae received the Visionary Award at the 2022 PGA Awards and the Vanguard Award at the 2017 “Essence” Black Women In Hollywood event. She received a Webby Award for Video Person of the Year in 2019 after her web series “Giants,” produced by her firm, earned The Streamy Award for Best Drama Series in 2018.
Issa was nominated for the People’s Choice Awards in 2020 for Favorite Female Movie Star and Favorite Comedy Movie Star for “The Lovebirds” as well as Favorite Drama Movie Star and Favorite Comedy Movie Star for “The Photograph.”
Additionally, she has been nominated for a Black Reel Award for Television for Outstanding Guest Actress, Comedy Series for “A Black Lady Sketch Show” (2020) and NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Television or Film) for “BoJack Horseman” (2019), Outstanding Guest Performance for “Saturday Night Live” (2021), and Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for “The Photograph” (2021). Here is a related twitter post:
Actress, writer & producer Issa Rae was born in Los Angeles, CA on this day in 1985. Co-creator & one of the stars of HBO’s ‘Insecure’, her film roles include ‘The Photograph’, ‘The Lovebirds’ & ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)’.#HERstory pic.twitter.com/zoY2cLNvq0
— Women of HERstory: A Podcast (@TheHERstorypod) January 12, 2023
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