From “Awkward Black Girl” To Hollywood Power Player: Issa Rae Didn't Wait For The Industry To Make Room...She Built Her Own

FROM “AWKWARD BLACK GIRL” TO HOLLYWOOD POWER PLAYER: ISSA RAE DIDN’T WAIT FOR THE INDUSTRY TO MAKE ROOM — SHE BUILT HER OWN

Hollywood loves an overnight-success story.

Issa Rae is not one of them.

Her success looks effortless now. One year she’s President Barbie in one of the biggest movies on the planet. The next, her production company is behind a Black female buddy comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA that turns into a box-office hit.

But Issa Rae’s real story is much better than an overnight success.

She built this thing piece by piece.

Long before Hollywood was putting her face on movie posters, Rae was creating The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl on YouTube. There was no giant studio waiting behind her with a multimillion-dollar budget. She created a funny, uncomfortable, very Black character and put her directly in front of an audience.

People watched.

Then Hollywood started watching too.

That internet series eventually helped lead Rae to HBO, where she co-created and starred in Insecure, the series that transformed her from an internet creator into one of the industry's most recognizable writers, producers and performers. The show collected Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and, more importantly, proved something Rae has continued trying to prove throughout her career: stories centered around Black people do not have to be treated like niche entertainment.

And once television knew her name, the movies came calling.

Rae began stacking film roles, appearing in movies including The Hate U Give, Little and the romantic drama The Photograph, opposite LaKeith Stanfield.

But even The Photograph showed that Rae wasn't satisfied with simply learning her lines and collecting a check.

She was also an executive producer on the film.

That distinction matters.

Because Issa Rae's Hollywood story isn't really about becoming a movie star.

It's about becoming somebody who can help decide which movies get made.

SHE STARTED MOVING BEHIND THE CAMERA

In 2020, Rae starred with Kumail Nanjiani in The Lovebirds, playing one half of a couple who accidentally become tangled in a murder mystery.

And again, Rae wasn't only the actress.

She was an executive producer.

Then came the creation of HOORAE, Rae's media company, which works across film, television and other areas of entertainment. The company describes its mission as developing entertainment through a distinctly Black female lens while demonstrating that stories made for Black audiences can succeed commercially.

And that is where Issa's career becomes especially interesting.

Because she didn't climb Hollywood's ladder just so she could stand at the top.

She started building another ladder.

THEN 2023 HAPPENED

If anybody was still confused about whether Issa Rae had made it into mainstream Hollywood, 2023 pretty much ended the conversation.

She appeared in three major acclaimed films in the same year.

There was Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, where she voiced the motorcycle-riding, very pregnant and extremely cool Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman.

Then came a little movie you may have heard of called Barbie.

Rae played President Barbie, joining Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and a massive ensemble in the cultural phenomenon that became 2023's biggest theatrical blockbuster.

And she still wasn't finished.

Rae also appeared as author Sintara Golden in American Fiction, another critically acclaimed movie that became part of the awards conversation. The Los Angeles Times noted the unusual run: Rae appeared in Barbie, American Fiction and Across the Spider-Verse during the same year, all highly visible and critically recognized films.

But while audiences were seeing Issa Rae everywhere on screen, she was quietly becoming even more powerful off screen.

GRAY MATTER: USING HER POWER TO OPEN ANOTHER DOOR

Through the revival of Project Greenlight, Rae served as a mentor and executive producer while helping give a female filmmaker the opportunity to direct a feature.

That project became Gray Matter, a science-fiction thriller directed by Meko Winbush.

Rae executive produced the movie through HOORAE alongside several other producers.

And then came the movie that may say more about Issa Rae's producing future than anything else she's done.

ONE OF THEM DAYS CHANGED THE CONVERSATION

In January 2025, Keke Palmer and SZA hit theaters as Dreux and Alyssa in One of Them Days, two best friends racing around Los Angeles trying to replace their rent money before they're evicted.

Issa Rae was one of the movie's producers.

HOORAE helped develop it.

And the project was significant for another reason: The Washington Post described One of Them Days as the first feature film from Rae's HOORAE production company.

Now here comes the part Hollywood understands particularly well.

Money.

The movie reportedly cost about $14 million to make.

It ultimately grossed approximately $50 million domestically and nearly $52 million worldwide.

For an original, R-rated comedy centered on two Black women — not a superhero sequel, remake or billion-dollar franchise — that mattered.

A lot.

And apparently Sony noticed.

Because by June 2025, a sequel was already in development, with Keke Palmer and SZA expected to return and Rae's producing team attached again.

As of 2026, One of Them Days 2 is listed in pre-production with Rae returning as a producer.

That's how you know you've moved into a different level of Hollywood.

You don't just make the movie.

You create the franchise.

Rae has also continued developing new films through HOORAE. Good People, Bad Things, a comedy-thriller in which Rae also stars, lists her as a producer; the project had reached completed status in industry listings during 2026.

AND THAT MAY BE ISSA RAE'S BIGGEST SUCCESS

It would be easy to measure Issa Rae's career by the recognizable titles.

Barbie.

Spider-Verse.

American Fiction.

The Photograph.

The Lovebirds.

One of Them Days.

But that misses the larger point.

Issa Rae entered Hollywood because she created a character on the internet when traditional entertainment wasn't exactly overflowing with awkward Black women getting to be complicated, funny, romantic, insecure, ambitious and occasionally ridiculous.

She then turned that opportunity into television.

Television into movies.

Movies into producing.

Producing into ownership and development.

And now she's in a position where another writer can walk into Hollywood with an idea about two Black girlfriends having the worst day imaginable — and instead of somebody saying, Who is the audience for this?, Issa Rae can help get the movie made.

Then audiences can answer the question themselves.

Apparently, the audience is us.

And we showed up.

That's the Issa Rae story.

She became successful in Hollywood without abandoning the kinds of stories that got her noticed in the first place.

She just gained enough power to make them bigger.

And somewhere between awkward Black girl and Hollywood producer, Issa Rae stopped asking for a seat at the table.

She started producing the whole damn table. 

Sources

This story draws from HOORAE, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. Discovery/Max, Box Office Mojo, Variety, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Rotten Tomatoes and current industry production credits.