Though Issa Rae is talented in many different mediums — acting, writing, directing and producing — she recently admitted she is far from skilled when it comes to hitting the dance floor.
In Rae’s new book of personal essays, I Should Be Smarter By Now, the multi-hyphenate reveals that she almost asked costar Ryan Gosling to leave the set on her second day of filming the hit Barbie movie.
In the book, which was released on Tuesday, August 26, Rae, 40, recalls having to perform a solo dance routine, which she admits is not her specialty.
“I was incredibly nervous. I wanted to ask Greta [Gerwig] if she could tell Ryan Gosling to leave so as not to break my concentration, but I had just arrived—I couldn’t make any demands,” Rae wrote.
Rae was given just 24 hours’ notice to learn the dance number for the film. Prior to filming, the Insecure creator was at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., when she received a phone call from her agent.
“‘Hey, so for the Barbie movie? They want you to dance,’” Rae recalls her agent telling her. “I almost dropped my phone. ‘Excuse me?’ You said I wouldn’t have to dance!” she wrote.
After the initial shock wore off, Rae’s friends, who were in D.C. with her at the time, attempted to teach her the choreography quickly.
“Choreography has always been my biggest challenge, due to being uncoordinated, and has honestly been a nonstarter for some pretty exciting job opportunities,” Rae wrote. “I texted my agent, ‘And it’s too late to quit?’ He replied quickly: ‘Yes.’”
Rae wrote that she studied the choreography video while on her flight to England, where the movie was filming. When she arrived on set the next day for solo rehearsal, the choreographers informed her that the routine had been changed. She was taught a new routine within an hour to perform with the rest of the cast.
While chatting among costars, she realized practically everyone else had been working on the choreography for two to three weeks and this only made her more nervous. After the first rehearsal, which she admits she was “not great” at, Rae wrote she “practiced all night in my hotel room and then got to set early to practice in my trailer up until they called me to do my solo routine for the camera.”
Of the second take, Rae wrote, “I did it. Not well by any means, but the choreographers were so impressed. ‘You practiced!’ they said. ‘DUH! I had no choice!’ I said.”
Rae, who played President Barbie in the 2023 film, wrote that despite having to dance, it was an overall incredible experience.
“And even though that particular scene was outside my comfort zone, the rest of filming was such a fulfilling process to be a part of and to witness,” Rae wrote. “Even with IP [Intellectual Property] as known and iconic as Barbie, I watched Greta see her particular vision through while managing to take in the input of every actor and producer.”
