Issa Rae To Find Love In London In Paul Feig Rom-Com 'American Princess'
Issa Rae is going to be an American Princess in London in her first major feature film starring role. The Insecure co-creator and star has been cast as the lead in the Paul Feig-produced rom-com American Princess at 20th Century Fox.
Issa Rae will star in the upcoming 20th Century Fox romantic-comedy American Princess, which is set to be helmed by Everything, Everything director Stella Meghie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Feig is set to produce the rom-com through his Feigco Entertainment banner with Jessie Henderson. Brendan O'Brien will also produce.
American Princess comes on the heels of the massive success of Crazy Rich Asians, which ushered in a new era for both minority-led studio films and rom-coms. Judging by the logline for the film, the premise for American Princess seems very inspired by Crazy Rich Asians, with our plucky heroine falling in love in London amidst a clash of classes. Per THR:
The film centers on an American woman (Rae) who moves to London, where she's drawn into a world of wealth and high society and falls in love in a very unexpected way.
American Princess is penned by Amy Aniobi, who has worked with Rae on Insecure as a writer/co-executive producer. The film will be Rae's debut as the lead in a major feature film, after recently appearing in a supporting role in The Hate U Give. Rae has garnered acclaim for her work on the HBO comedy series Insecure, for which she's received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. It's been a meteoric rise for Rae, who began her career through the self-created YouTube web series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl — which partially inspired the award-winning Insecure. Rae also recently wrapped filming another starring role in Little, a Universal comedy with Black-ish star Marsai Martin.
It seems that with Crazy Rich Asians and the upcoming American Princess, the rom-com is back in full force. And I couldn't be happier. With more rom-coms lead by people of color, the genre is evolving with the times, while offering the healthy dose of escapism that we're all in desperate need of. Feig's backing is encouraging as well — the filmmaker recently made the hugely entertaining trash-caper A Simple Favor and has helped shepherd more female-centric comedies with Bridesmaids and the recent Ghostbusters reboot. But I'm glad that he's stepped back from directing and is instead boosting female directors like Meghie for this project.