Issa Rae shared her thoughts on ballroom culture and voguing in a new interview with Insider.- Rae, who was recently a guest judge on
HBO 's "Legendary ," called voguing a "beautiful art form."
Most people know Issa Rae as the creator and star of HBO's "Insecure," but the actress opened up about another interest of hers in a new interview with Insider.
Rae was a guest judge on the May 26 episode of the HBO ballroom series "Legendary," which follows various groups of performers — known as Houses — as they compete in various ballroom categories, including voguing, walking, and dancing.
"I just started watching 'Legendary' through season one and became obsessed with it. It's such a beautiful art form," Rae told Insider at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of her new film "Vengeance" on Sunday. "It's so athletic. I think it should be an Olympic sport."
The "Insecure" star also praised the "extremely inspiring" performers, many of whom are members of the LGBTQ community and identify as Black or Latine.
While Rae herself centered Black voices on her show "Insecure," she told Insider she was cognizant of the fact that she had lots to learn about ballroom culture.
"It was an honor to be part of the show, and I fully recognized my limitations and experiences," Rae said. "I came on as a fan, and the judges are incredible — Leiomy [Maldonado] is a legend."
"Since then I've been researching so much about ballroom," the "Lovebirds" actress added.
And when asked which House was her favorite, Rae told Insider that she'd been "rooting" for Kiki House of Juicy Couture, who won season three of "Legendary."
"That's my House. I love them," Rae said.
Featuring Law Roach, Jameela Jamil, Keke Palmer, and Maldonado as judges, the season three finale of "Legendary" aired on Thursday. Other guest judges this season included Kelly Rowland, Bob the Drag Queen, Anitta, and Leslie Jones.
Rae currently stars in "Vengeance," BJ Novak's feature directorial debut. In theaters July 29, "Vengeance" follows jaded New York journalist and wannabe podcaster Ben (Novak) as he travels to rural Texas to attend the funeral of Abilene, a woman he'd been casually hooking up with (her family believes they were in a more serious relationship).
Ashton Kutcher, J. Smith-Cameron, Boyd Holbrook, Dove Cameron, and Isabella Amara also star, in addition to Novak and Rae.