Issa Rae’s character, Issa, on her hit HBO series, Insecure, has a part-time job as a Lyft driver on the show but the actress revealed that she applied for the job position two years ago.
“I rented a car to write the first episodes [of the second season of the show] in December, and the rental car that I had, I drove it all the way to Malibu,” the Los Angeles told Page Six.
“I bought a full tank [of gas] but I didn’t use it. So I thought, ‘I’m not returning this car with all this gas. I paid for it — I’m just going to lose money.’ ”
Rae revealed that despite the growing success of her show after season 1, she applied to be a Lyft driver but was later denied.
“So I filled out the application. I got the sticker [to go on her car from Lyft] and then I got denied because I had some stupid traffic violation in 2014.”
Although her plan didn’t work out, it became the inspiration for her show.
“I told the writers how I tried to do that and they found it hilarious. And they asked, ‘What if people recognized you?’ But I wasn’t even thinking about that, because Season 2 [of ‘Insecure’] didn’t even come out yet. And it was in Malibu so I thought that I would be OK.”
She added, “There are so many creative people using ride sharing as a means to make some additional income, and Issa definitely needed that extra income.”
