Exclusive: Issa Rae Admits She Initially Felt “a Bit Intimidated” When Learning She’d Be Portraying a Pregnant Spider-Woman in New Spider-Man Film [Video]

Celebrities ‘pumped up the jam’ at the Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse world premiere on Tuesday (May 30th) and stepped on the carpet for some fun.

The upcoming sequel sees Shameik Moore return as Miles Morales, with Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Velez reprising their roles as Miles’ parents Jefferson and Rio. New faces will enter the spider-verse with Issa Rae playing Jessica Drew / Spiderwoman and Daniel Kaluuya playing Hobart “Hobie” Brown / Spider-Punk. 

Baller Alert chatted with Henry, who shared the similarities between his role in the film and his father, who was in the military. 

“I wanted to show the representation of a father that I always wanted to see,” he began. 

“I wanted to see a father who would do anything for their child that is present – the narratives of Black fathers in film are always a bit skewed and I knew I wanted to be a father that would do anything for his son while reflecting the fathers that I knew and wanted to see. This go around, I also wanted to reflect the fathers that are raising teenagers because teenagers are crazy (laughs). To see Rio and Jefferson trying to raise this Afro-Latino while not knowing his identity as Spider-Man is tough and I hope the parents watching this who are represented can feel seen, heard, and okay with just not knowing how to identify with your child while they are trying to identify who they are at the same time.” 

Issa also popped in to chit-chat with the outlet, explaining she was a bit “intimated” when learning about the role. 

“I was shocked – first, I was excited as hell to be in the Spider-Verse, especially as a Spider-Man fan and then to play Jessica Drew was incredible. I saw that they introduced one of the pregnancy arcs from the comics and I was a bit intimidated. I believe this is a nice nod to the pregnant women who are out here killing sh*t and making their way, making things happen. My little sister is pregnant and my mom always tells her she’s so fragile – to an extent, she is but also, she’s living and doing what she needs to do. To embody that was incredible.” 

She then lets us know a bit about her, the Issaverse and the projects we can expect while also giving an update on a previously announced series called Him Or Her. 

“For the series, ‘Him Or Her,’ you would need to direct all inquiries to Travon Free,” she shared. 

“I still love that idea so much and I hope that it does happen. Besides Rap Sh*t, we have Project Greenlight coming out for all the inspiring filmmakers out there. We also have Barbie, which is coming out and a few other things which are on pause right now due to the Writer’s Strike.” 

Coi Leray is also featured in the Spider-Verse, appearing on the film’s soundtrack and says it’s made for the culture. 

“Shout out to Metro Boomin – this soundtrack is for the culture and I’m excited to be a part of it,” she expressed. 

“To get that call and to have something out with him – especially for Spider-Man is such a blessing. I just keep leveling up every single time.” 

She also addresses the backlash about her sampling, to which she says she’s going to do what she wants to do. 

“I have so many fire records – a whole catalog that doesn’t have samples,” she said. 

“When I do use a sample, it’s something that I want to do and I’m gonna do what I want to do. I feel like I always make great, catchy songs and also, if you listen to a lot of old records, you ‘ll get a lot of inspiration. You can bring it back to life and educate the youth about a lot of the OGs in Hip Hop, how the songs are being made – history will always repeat itself and it’s a blessing to be a part of that.”

She shared that her album, Coi, will be released on June 23rd and shares how she has a James Brown sample and that came about. 

“The James Brown record on my upcoming album is a record I used to tell my story and I get vulnerable on that record – I have a lot of kids that watch me, look up to me, and they don’t know who James Brown is but they are about to tap in and find out. This is what Hip Hop and music is about – I also have a song with Lola Brooke with London On The Track as the producer, David Guetta produced on it, so yeah.” 

As we wait to listen to Leray’s upcoming album, you can hear her vocals in one of the songs featured in the film, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, which premiered in theaters on June 2nd.