‘Insecure’: Issa Rae Says ‘Life Without Lawrence’ Is ‘True to Life’ in Season 3

Fans noticed Lawrence wasn’t in the Season 3 trailer, and the writers say it’s more authentic that way

Jay Ellis Insecure
HBO

Sorry, “Insecure” fans, but it looks like the trailer for Season 3 didn’t leave out Lawrence (Jay Ellis) by accident.

Speaking with Vulture, creator Issa Rae said that it’s more “true to life” to keep the story-line pretty Lawrence-free for the upcoming season.

“We want to stay as true to life as possible. They had a great conversation at the end of season two and it was just about like, hey, she’s moving on Daniel, sometimes we have those conversations,” she said. “You never see the exes again. And it’s okay! You gotta explore life without Lawrence.”

Showrunner Prentice Penny echoed Rae, adding that seeing Issa in Season 3 move on from her ex felt “authentic.”

“At the end of the day, we’re always trying to tell stories that are true and authentic,” he said. “We were in the writers’ room and we were initially talking about, Okay, well what is he doing?… Well, he’s not in her life right now. It was hard to make stories around that.”

“We just said, well, if he’s not around, he’s not around,” Penny continued. “Let’s just deal with the reality of what her life is now. Let’s be true to that when you break up and you have closure.”

But life without Lawrence doesn’t mean that Issa won’t have some good dating stories. From the Season 3 trailer, we saw that Issa is living with Daniel (Y’lan Noel), although she insists she’s not sleeping with him — even if she is thinking about it.

Prentice continued: “It was also like, well where is Issa in her life right now? What would challenge that? And you’ll see lots of people who are her love interest kind of come in and out. Or guys?… Guys! Maybe. I think people will be rooting for her like they kind of always do, to make the right choice.”

“Insecure” Season 3 premieres on HBO August 12. 

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