---
name: "Issa Rae"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/issa-rae"
fi1m_id: "issa-rae"
imdb_id: "nm4793987"
tmdb_id: 1455336
wikidata_id: "Q13560267"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "12 January 1985"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-07T19:20:08.642053+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Issa Rae

## Identity

Issa Rae

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/issa-rae
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** issa-rae
- **IMDb ID:** nm4793987
- **TMDB ID:** 1455336
- **Wikidata ID:** Q13560267
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_Rae, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13560267, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4793987/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1455336

Actor. Born 12 January 1985 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 12 January 1985, Los Angeles, California, USA
- **Active:** 2016–present
- **Also known as:** Jo-Issa Rae Diop, JoIssa Rae Diop
- **Frequently works with:** [Amy Pascal](https://film.one/person/amy-pascal.md), [Avi Arad](https://film.one/person/avi-arad.md), [Christopher Miller](https://film.one/person/christopher-miller.md), [David Callaham](https://film.one/person/david-callaham.md), [Hailee Steinfeld](https://film.one/person/hailee-steinfeld.md), [Jake Johnson](https://film.one/person/jake-johnson.md), [Justin K. Thompson](https://film.one/person/justin-k-thompson.md), [Phil Lord](https://film.one/person/phil-lord.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as actor, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 81 (1), 2020s 67 (4)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 70 to 73 across 5 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 1 of 4 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Comedy 4, Adventure 3, Animation 2, Drama 2, Fantasy 2, Action 1
- **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $3,173m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issa_Rae, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13560267, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4793987/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1455336

## Coming up

- *Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse* (2027-06-17), as Jessica Drew (voice)

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Insecure*](https://film.one/tv/insecure.md) (81), [*Barbie*](https://film.one/film/barbie.md) (76)
- **The Roku Channel:** [*American Fiction*](https://film.one/film/american-fiction.md) (73)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Issa Rae

> Issa Rae has a precise sense of comic embarrassment, and we like her best when she has room to answer back. *American Fiction* gives her that chance, while *Barbie* gives her too little to do.

In *American Fiction* (2023), Issa Rae’s Sintara Golden gets a long conversation with Monk, whose contempt for her bestseller has helped set the story going. Cord Jefferson lets her challenge him instead of making her the fool he expects. We were relieved to hear her answer him: a satire so busy finding targets becomes more interesting when one of them can object. The part suits an actor whose comedy understands the discomfort of having to explain yourself, and it gives her room to be somebody Monk has misjudged.

Rae had already made that sort of discomfort central to her own work. She created, wrote and starred as J in *The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl* (2011), then co-created *Insecure* (2016–2021) with Larry Wilmore and played Issa Dee across five seasons. Internal monologue and voice-over allow the private thought and the public behaviour to sit alongside each other. Her timing makes those everyday embarrassments funny, while the attention to Black female friendship gives the characters lives beyond the next joke. Acting, writing and producing have allowed her to decide what those women get to say.

Greta Gerwig’s *Barbie* (2023) offers considerably less freedom. Rae, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef and Sharon Rooney get perhaps a dozen lines between them as Barbies, despite their prominent billing. We liked the film’s wit, but there is little space here for Rae to develop a character or do much with her comic timing. The reservation is about the writing: hiring Rae ought to mean finding something for her to do.

Jefferson gives her a useful way forward: a woman with an opinion the leading man would prefer not to hear. *American Fiction* does not quite bring its publishing satire and family drama together, but Rae’s scene makes us wish Jefferson had spent longer with the disagreement. We would welcome more parts that let her be difficult, assured or simply unconcerned with being liked. Start with Sintara, then try *Insecure* for a longer acquaintance.

## Biography

Issa Rae is an American actress, writer and producer. She was born on 12 January 1985 in Los Angeles, California.

Rae first gained attention as the creator and star of the YouTube series Awkward Black Girl (2011–2013). She went on to co-create, write and star in the HBO comedy series Insecure (2016–2021).

Her film roles include April Ofrah in The Hate U Give (2018), April Williams in Little (2019), Leilani in The Lovebirds (2020), Barbie in Barbie (2023), Sintara Golden in American Fiction (2023) and the voice of Jessica Drew in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *The Super Mario Galaxy Movie* (2026), Fi1m 38, as Honey Queen (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie.md)
- *American Fiction* (2023), Fi1m 73, as Sintara Golden — [page](https://film.one/film/american-fiction.md)
- *Barbie* (2023), Fi1m 76, as Barbie — [page](https://film.one/film/barbie.md)
- *Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* (2023), Fi1m 82, as Jessica Drew (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/spider-man-across-the-spider-verse.md)
- *Insecure* (2016), Fi1m 81, as Issa Dee — [page](https://film.one/tv/insecure.md)

## Complete filmography (44)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse* (2027), as Jessica Drew (voice)
- *Babies* (2026), as Becky
- *The Super Mario Galaxy Movie* (2026), as Honey Queen (voice) — Fi1m 38, [page](https://film.one/film/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie.md)
- *Picture This* (2026), series, Actor
- *Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television* (2025), series, Executive Producer
- *Escape Room* (2025), Actor
- *Just One* (2025), Executive Producer
- *Contours* (2025), Executive Producer
- *One of Them Days* (2025), Producer
- *American Fiction* (2023), as Sintara Golden — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/american-fiction.md)
- *Young Love* (2023), series, as Angela Young (voice)
- *Barbie* (2023), as Barbie — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/barbie.md)
- *Gray Matter* (2023), Executive Producer
- *Project Greenlight* (2023), series, Executive Producer
- *Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* (2023), as Jessica Drew (voice) — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/spider-man-across-the-spider-verse.md)
- *Vengeance* (2022), as Eloise
- *Rap Sh!t* (2022), series, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Roar* (2022), series, as Wanda Shepard
- *Insecure: The End* (2021), Executive Producer
- *Coastal Elites* (2020), as Callie Josephson
- *Dark City Beneath the Beat* (2020), Executive Producer, Producer
- *The Lovebirds* (2020), as Leilani · Executive Producer
- *#blackAF* (2020), series, as Issa Rae
- *The Photograph* (2020), as Mae Eames · Executive Producer
- *Hair Love* (2019), as Natural Hair Vlogger / Mom (voice)
- *A Black Lady Sketch Show* (2019), series, as Trina, Daffodil Dunham, Jess, Butterfly · Executive Producer
- *Little* (2019), as April Williams
- *The Hate U Give* (2018), as April Ofrah
- *Moonlight* (2017), as Rachel
- *Insecure* (2016), series, as Issa Dee · Writer, Executive Producer, Creator — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/insecure.md)
- *A Bitter Lime* (2015), as Jane Johnson
- *Killing Lazarus* (2015), Producer
- *Rubberhead* (2014), as Bride 2 (segment "Absorption")
- *BoJack Horseman* (2014), series, as Dr. Indira (voice) — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/tv/bojack-horseman.md)
- *Black Mirror* (2011), series, as Brandy Friday — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/black-mirror.md)
- *The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl* (2011), series, as J · Creator
- *Untitled Lupita Nyong'o/Rihanna Project*, Writer
- *Good People, Bad Things*, as Producer
- *One of Them Days 2*, Producer
- *Untitled Set It Off Remake*, as Producer
- *Juju*, Producer
- *Untitled Friendship Breakup Film*, as Producer
- *Sinkhole*, Producer
- *Perfect Strangers*, Screenplay, Producer

## Gallery

- ![Issa Rae, producer, writer, and actress, at the 2025 South by Southwest festival.](https://film.one/media/person/449/gallery-7a4fd131b1e5.jpg) Issa Rae, producer, writer, and actress, at the 2025 South by Southwest festival. — Bea Phi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Issa_Rae%2C_producer%2C_writer%2C_and_actress%2C_at_SXSW_2025_01.jpg/1280px-Issa_Rae%2C_producer%2C_writer%2C_and_actress%2C_at_SXSW_2025_01.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Issa Rae](https://film.one/media/person/449/gallery-bae92925ceeb.jpg) Issa Rae — Bea Phi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Issa_Rae%2C_producer%2C_writer%2C_and_actress%2C_at_SXSW_2025_01_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Issa_Rae%2C_producer%2C_writer%2C_and_actress%2C_at_SXSW_2025_01_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Issa Rae, producer, writer, and actress, at the 2025 South by Southwest festival.](https://film.one/media/person/449/gallery-b7b8217eaa13.jpg) Issa Rae, producer, writer, and actress, at the 2025 South by Southwest festival. — Bea Phi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Issa_Rae%2C_producer%2C_writer%2C_and_actress%2C_at_SXSW_2025_02.jpg/1280px-Issa_Rae%2C_producer%2C_writer%2C_and_actress%2C_at_SXSW_2025_02.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Issa Rae, producer, writer, and actress, at the 2025 South by Southwest festival.](https://film.one/media/person/449/gallery-5fb6ad9db956.jpg) Issa Rae, producer, writer, and actress, at the 2025 South by Southwest festival. — Bea Phi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Issa_Rae%2C_producer%2C_writer%2C_and_actress%2C_at_SXSW_2025_03.jpg/1280px-Issa_Rae%2C_producer%2C_writer%2C_and_actress%2C_at_SXSW_2025_03.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Issa Rae](https://film.one/media/person/449/gallery-4b42368bad39.jpg) Issa Rae — Image via TMDB
- ![Issa Rae](https://film.one/media/person/449/gallery-4cb7b7cc8bfe.jpg) Issa Rae — Image via TMDB
- ![Issa Rae](https://film.one/media/person/449/gallery-7be8fc1d7ecf.jpg) Issa Rae — Image via TMDB
- ![Issa Rae, producer, writer, and actress, at the 2025 South by Southwest festival.](https://film.one/media/person/449/gallery-caed70e0d673.jpg) Issa Rae, producer, writer, and actress, at the 2025 South by Southwest festival. — Bea Phi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Issa_Rae%2C_producer%2C_writer%2C_and_actress%2C_at_SXSW_2025_04.jpg/1280px-Issa_Rae%2C_producer%2C_writer%2C_and_actress%2C_at_SXSW_2025_04.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Issa Rae](https://film.one/media/person/449/gallery-a169f8e9636b.jpg) Issa Rae — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Other awards — 3 won

- Time 100 2022: Time 100 (won)
- Time 100 2018: Time 100 (won)
- OkayAfrica 100 Women 2017: OkayAfrica 100 Women (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/issa-rae