Issa Rae’s Insecure has been a hit for HBO, but the creator and star of the breakout series initially had a tough time bringing the show to life.

Speaking with Newsy, Rae admitted that going from her YouTube hit, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, to the HBO series, she was told a number of times that she’d have to change key elements of the show. “I was still told … ‘This doesn’t have an audience, and you know, if you want to take it to television, you’re going to have to recast everybody you know, including yourself.'”

Fortunately, HBO arrived just in time and Rae was able to keep the cast just the way it was and she’s since earned a Golden Globe nomination for the show. 

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Rae says that Insecure is very much about “black female friendship and black women,” but adds that it also has universal appeal. “You know, we all go through a lot of the same things, and then there are things that are very specific to us, and I like to show both. … Like, I watch The Americans, I’m not a spy. I’m not married. I’m not Russian. But there’s just something about the storytelling that draws me in.”

“You don’t have to experience something completely to understand it and to feel close to it. … We’re not trying to tell every black woman’s experience. We’re telling a very, very specific story, and you know, all black women aren’t going to like it. They don’t. … All we can do is just strive to tell the best story we can and the most authentic story.”