From body image to her passion for writing, Rap Sh!t co-star Aida Osman got candid in an interview with Teen Vogue, which inducted her into the New Hollywood 2024.
Osman clarified that she’s a writer and actress, exploring opportunities for both but intensely expressing her love for writing. Following the end of HBO Max’s Rap Sh!t, the star is exploring her storytelling capabilities and testing her limits as a daring writer.
“I’m still just a writer and actor, but I want that to change,” Osman says. “I want to make sure that I have access and pull in a way where I can tell the stories that I want to tell and not sacrifice the art. I want to tell very specific stories about Black people, about African people, about people from the Midwest — about my people. I can’t let fear sabotage that because those are pure intentions, and my job as the artist is to have pure intentions.”
Osman’s not an A-list celebrity yet, and she’s not even sure if she wants to be on that level of public notoriety, but she is sure that she’s doing it for the passion and not the publicity—it’s just a plus. Osman can’t resist seeing the beauty and responsibility that comes with screenwriting.
“I think actors learn how to find beauty in the art of interpreting people’s words, but there’s so much power in choosing what your character says and having the final say,” she points out. “You get to choose what stories are told, and you get to choose what the project believes.”
That passion landed her as a writer on Issa Rae’s Rap Sh!t in 2022, which got canceled after two seasons. Osman is hellbent on writing, but her colleagues consistently commented on how she was similar to the character Shawna, causing her to consider joining the acting side and auditioning for the role. No one knew she was going to audition.
“Being a writer for the show was already such a massive win for me that I thought I was being greedy for even wanting to be in the show,” Osman said. “My dream was to write. My dream of acting has come to me over the course of the last two years. I’m letting it build and giving myself up to that opportunity because I used to be scared.”
Osman was over 200 pounds in high school but never felt like a big woman until she had to film a sex scene for Rap Sh!t.
“Somebody saw me drinking a coffee, and they were like, ‘Oh, I know you’re not eating. You’ve got a sex scene today.’ I said, ‘What?’ And they were like, ‘Most actresses don’t want to look bloated in the scene.’ I said, ‘If you don’t pass me 300 bananas right now, I’m about to pull up blimp-y,’” Osman recalled “I’m a rebel at heart. You’re not going to tell me I can’t eat. I’m only going to tell me I can’t eat if I don’t want to eat.”
As a Black, Muslim, non-binary and queer actress, Osman encountered similar experiences that Taraji P. Henson has talked about, from being labeled as “difficult” to getting underpaid. But she wasn’t one who didn’t speak up.
“Black people are getting paid disproportionately smaller amounts of money, and that is a shame, but I don’t know how to fight it,” she commented. “I don’t always have the bravery somebody like Issa or Taraji has because of their age and their context and their success. Of course, I’ll scream from the mountaintops, ‘Pay Black women more money! Pay Black creators more money!’ But it doesn’t feel like people are listening.”
Although given, Osman observed how hard Black entertainers, especially women, had to fight to be heard and seen. After Rap Sh!t ended, she learned that “nothing is guaranteed for Black people in Hollywood.” they must fight harder and sprint faster toward the next opportunity.
