Insecure tells the story of Issa and Molly, two brilliant, beautiful women (Issa Rae and Yvonne Orji) finding their way in L.A. It also tells the story of LAWRENCE HOOKING UP WITH TASHA THE BANK TELLER.
Lawrence, played by Jay Ellis, was one of last year’s most divisive characters—his behavior literally tore couples apart (see below). When we met Lawrence, he was Issa’s sweet, loyal, unemployed boyfriend. But by the end of season one, he and Issa were on the rocks and he was BONING TASHA THE BANK TELLER. Over the course of the season, Ellis had garnered a strong fan base among the ladies and a very loud group of men, the #LawrenceHive. Then Tashagate happened and the women, including Ellis’s mother, turned against him. The Hive went bananas.
We caught up with Ellis in New York to talk about women (Tasha), season two (what will happen with Tasha), and his worst job ever. (But also, what’s up with Lawrence and Tasha?)
At the end of Insecure’s first season, Lawrence really pivoted: We’d only seen him as a stereotypical good guy, and we thought he and Issa were definitely going to get back together. And then he hooked up with Tasha the bank teller! Did you notice a shift in the attention you were getting from viewers?
Jay Ellis: Most women yell at me. That episode aired on Sunday night, and one of my best friends that I grew up with called me on Monday at like 8 P.M. and told me that he and his wife still hadn’t spoken. They got in an argument about whether it was right or not for Lawrence to do that. He sided with Lawrence, so she wouldn’t talk to him.
Do you think Lawrence did the right thing?
He didn’t cheat! He did not cheat. I don’t know that I’ve ever been cheated on like Lawrence, and if I have I definitely don’t want to know, but I think he needed to get some frustration out. I think what’s interesting, and what we get to see in season two, is what happens to a good guy when his heart is broken. How do you recover from that? Do you recover from that?
What did you learn about dating working with a group of primarily women writers?
It is hard out here for women. Dudes are really douchebags. There are some really bad dudes and really shitty behavior out here. I just didn’t realize.
Are you a comment-reader?
I did read almost every single Lawrence Hive thing that was out there. I won’t lie. I’m in love in a major way with the phenomena that is Lawrence Hive. I don’t know how many memes I have right now. My mom has Instagram and used to search my name, but she won’t even search my name anymore. She’s like, “I just can’t look at your butt anymore. I just can’t look at you naked in a meme anymore.”
Did you warn her before your sexy finale?
I did not. I’m a bad son. To me sex is just such a regular part of life that I just didn’t think of saying, “Be forewarned, I’m having sex in the last episode and it’s pretty graphic.” From now on, my grandma will not watch the show unless I tell her what’s in the next episode. She was like, “Baby, you know I love you, and I’m always going to support you.” And I said, "Yeah, Grandma." She said she can’t watch the show anymore. I asked her why, and she said, “You’re my grandbaby, and I just can’t be watching your booty out there like that.” So I said I’d tell her what’s in the episode beforehand. She said, “Then I will watch it, but as soon as you take your shirt off, I just gotta let you know, I’m cutting it off.”
What did your dad think?
He was like, “Yeah, Lawrence! YEAH, Lawrence!” My dad is a total Lawrence Hive dude. My mom was like, “I am so disappointed in you. First of all, I just cannot believe that you didn’t tell me that that was happening, and second of all that you…would you do that to a girl?” And I was like, Whoa, whoa! Mama! No!
Knowing what you know now, what’s your advice to the men?
Communication. Just be honest. Someone told me this, and I think it’s such an amazing quote. A friend of mine, his name is Wren [Brown]. He’s an actor who’s been around for years, and he has lunch with Sidney Poitier once a month—for, like, the last 20 years. A few weeks ago, we were talking, and one of the things he said Sidney told Wren was “Be the marrying kind.” And I think that’s just such an interesting way to say, “Just do the right thing.” Be a good dude and have integrity. No, not every girl is gonna wanna hear “Let’s just go back to my place,” but if you state your intentions before, she doesn’t have to go down this shitty path of maybe going on a date with you only to be completely broadsided when you say something stupid.
And hold your own. Lawrence put himself in a situation by sitting home and not having a job, and not providing and not being the man that he needed to be for himself. And also not being the man that he needed to be for his girlfriend.
Speaking of which, what’s your most soul-crushing, Lawrence-in–Best Buy–type job?
I worked for a smoothie company, and that was rough. I also sold women’s shoes for a very long time. That was super rough. Only because every once in a while, we’d get a customer whose hygiene was just…they didn’t care. And they would ask you to help them take off their shoes, put on a ped, put on a shoe. It could get disgusting sometimes.
Who was your worst customer?
A celebrity. A starlet. Who did a lot of reality TV. Who is not as popular as she was, but is still popular. She’s an heir to a family fortune. Her last name is the name of the company. This woman would come in and was just an absolute monster. A monster. To every single one of us who were in there, every single time. She would just throw shoes on the floor, and then you had to put shoes on her.
I will say this: She would order, like, ten or twelve shoes at a time, so it was a great commission check, but the amount of work you had to go through to get that...you might as well have just given your soul to the devil. It would’ve been an easier exchange. You’d know what you were getting up front.
