‘Insecure’ Star Yvonne Orji on How HBO Show ‘Normalizes the Black Experience’ (Video)

“There’s nothing put upon our blackness; it’s just, you wake up and you’re black,” Orji says of the HBO comedy

Yvonne Orji sat down with TheWrap to dish about her new HBO show “Insecure,” the slice-of-life comedy about two black best friends navigating life in South L.A.

“It’s just love, life and everything in between,” says Orji, who plays a corporate lawyer that has her work down pat but, her love life, not so much.

Orji is excited about the show for two reasons — one it’s just a regular show about regular people who just so happen to be black.

“It feels different,” Orji says. “There’s nothing put upon our blackness. It’s just, you wake up and you’re black, and that’s the experience we’re gong to watch today. I think it’s a refreshing take on the black experience that even if you’re not African-American you, too, can enjoy it. Like, ‘Oh. Yea. I guess they are kind of regular, normal people.’ Not like no one doesn’t think that we are, but it normalizes the black experience, which I think is important.”

And two, evolving from a popular web series to HBO is a pretty big deal.

“It’s a new paradigm. It’s a huge shift,” she says. “I also think it empowers creatives to say, ‘Hey, you know what? I can make this happen.’ A lot of times in Hollywood, it’s ‘How are we going to get this green lit? How are we going to get this financed?’ There are so many ‘How are wes?’ This just shows it can be done if you just produce good content.”

“Insecure” premieres on HBO Sunday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 PT/10:30 ET.

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