Issa, it's so nice to meet you.
It is so nice to meet you.
I am incredibly hyped.
Well, good.
I am too.
You're an amazingly talented woman,
and it's your first time on the show,
and I'm very happy to meet you.
It's my first time on the--
I'm happy to meet you.
I actually saw you at Soho House.
It was, like, my first or second time there.
And I saw you from a distance, and I was like, "That's Ellen!"
But I didn't say that to.
Oh.
I didn't say anything.
I just watched and I was just happy to being a part of that.
Oh, well, you should have said hi.
No.
You were rushing.
You looked hungry.
I'm always hungry.
Same.
Always hungry.
All right, so it's very exciting because tonight,
in a few hours, you are going to the Emmy's.
It's your very first Emmy nomination.
Whoo, yes.
It is.
Thank you.
Yes.
[CHEERING]
Just chilling here first.
You know, have to stop by here.
Good luck charm.
Yeah.
First of all, I have to--
before I tell this story, I'm hyped.
Because y'all helped me with the Emmy's, and I didn't get to say
anything.
But I just want to cheers and be happy--
Oh.
--that I'm on this show.
I came out a little bit nervous.
You're bringing them back?
I'm bringing what back?
You're returning these?
You guys gave me shots at my first Emmy's and got me
through it.
And so I just wanted to return the favor.
All right.
I can't open this.
You've got too much lotion on your hands.
I do.
Yeah.
I don't want to be ashy for Ellen.
Yeah, no.
Jeez.
(LAUGHING) Ashy.
[LAUGHING]
Well, now you've-- OK, here.
I got it.
You're so strong.
Yeah, I know.
I know.
There you go.
Cheers.
All right.
Thank you for having me on the show.
[APPLAUSE]
So first of all, this is very flattering
because, you said you want to be a combination of Oprah
and Diddy and me.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yes, I do.
Yeah.
So I wanted to see what that would look like,
and it's not pretty.
Um--
[LAUGHING]
That's exactly what I want to look like.
Yeah.
So maybe stick with who you are.
You look much better.
Thank you.
I hope.
So let's talk about other things.
Let's talk about Insecure.
It's in its third season--
Yes.
--and everyone loves the show, including Michelle Obama.
Yes.
Everybody is tweeting about it.
Everyone in the office, we all love the show.
It's very-- tell everyone what it's about.
And you wrote it, you created, you starred-- it's very clever.
Yeah, it's about two-- thank you-- two best
friends in their late 20s, just trying
to figure out life, love, and everything in between.
Yeah.
But it's really funny, and the conversations are very real.
Like, it's like real girlfriends talking about real thing.
Yeah.
It's, like, based off of me and my friends.
You know, it's based on some of the conversations that we have,
some of the relationships that we've had.
There are people that I sneak into the show all the time.
They don't know that I'm talking about them, but I am.
They probably do.
No!
OK, one girl, from a web series that I did
a while ago called "Awkward Black Girl,"
I had this character called Baby Voice.
Because you know those people that are talking like--
[HIGH-PITCHED MUMBLING]
It's like, speak up!
And I made the character a guy, because I
was like, oh, this is--
she'll never know anyway.
And she called me and she was like, "Is this about me?"
And I was like, "No, girl, chill.
Like, everything's not about you."
But I was like, I can't believe she knew that.
So sometimes they know but--
Yeah.
So you are you on that series.
Somewhat.
I can relate this season to my character, Issa Dee,
on Insecure just because she was very, very broke.
And I went through that very broke period
where, like, I was--
I thought when I discovered credit cards, I was like, oh,
this easy.
The game is locked.
Like, all you do is you just get free money
and I can just keep ordering cars
and then you pay like $25 a month.
I can sustain this.
This is easy.
Eventually, I'll be rich, somehow.
And then I was just spending too, too, too much, and--
That's what people do.
I guess.
It's a trap.
That's how they get you.
Uh-huh.
And then I was like, oh, the gas station even has credit cards?
Let me just apply for that, because I might as well--
I have a car.
I need gas.
And then I, like, apply for a Valero card.
And I got denied.
And I was like, whoa, this is strange,
because they've said yes every time.
So this must be a mistake on their part.
And then I kept on trying to apply
and I kept on getting denied.
And that's when I realized, oh, shoot, I'm in trouble.
And $25,000-- and at that point, I
hadn't even seen barely past like three figures
in my account.
So I was, like, how am I going to get this money back?
But thank goodness.
You've got it back now.
Yeah, I got it back now.
Yeah.
Yes.
You're doing OK now.
I'm doing OK.
And your parents must be, like, you know,
you proved them wrong.
They're great.
My parents have been great.
My dad was worried in that way where it's just, like, you
should get an education.
You should get a master's degree first.
Acting will always be there.
Your youth years will always be there.
And I was like, that's backwards.
Like, school is always going to be there.
I'm OK.
And now, they've definitely come around.
Yeah.
He's like, oh, I saw you on NPR.
Good job.
You know, Larry King.
Yeah, I know.
You're doing very, very well.
Thank you.
Yeah.
And then now you're going to the Emmy's.
Good luck tonight.
I hope you win.
Congratulations.
Thank you so much.
Insecure airs Sunday night at 10:30 on HBO.
It's really funny.
You should watch it.
We'll be back.
Hi, I'm Andy.
Ellen asked me to remind you to subscribe to her channel
so you can see more awesome videos,
like videos of me getting scared or saying embarrassing things,
like "ball peen hammer," and also some videos of Ellen
and other celebrities, if you're into that sort of thing.
[STARTLED YELL, BLEEP]
(YELLING) God, [BLEEP]!