“Sweet Life: LA” Star Jerrold Smith II Talks Working With Issa Rae: “She's Literally Amazing”

“Sweet Life: Los Angeles” is back for season two, and our favourite LA besties have a whole lot more in store for us. The unscripted Issa Rae-produced series – centred on an ambitious group of Black 20-somethings living in South LA – returns for another summer premiere on Aug. 4, but much has changed for the crew since they made their TV debuts last year.

Obviously, the cast members – which include Jerrold Smith II, Cheryl Des Vignes, Amanda Scott, Rob Lee, Briana Jones, Rebecca Magett, Tylynn Burns, Jaylenn Hart, and P’Jae Compton – are getting recognised IRL in their hometown and beyond, but Smith II tells POPSUGAR that’s just the tip of the iceberg. “It’s been fun. I get recognised a lot in LA, everywhere,” he says. “We have fans in a bunch of different places. I’ve been travelling for the past couple weeks, and since season one, and it’s just been fun to see who all’s been watching the show.”

Smith II, who was recommended for “Sweet Life: Los Angeles” by his close friend and castmate Jordan Bentley, is part of the reason his friend group was tapped for the reality TV show. “Jordan got hit up first, and [then] Jordan suggested me,” he explains. “I had went through the whole process, and then I suggested everyone else that you see on the show.”

Since season one’s premiere, a whole new world of opportunity has opened up for the crew – specifically for Smith II, who also works at Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Media company. The 26-year-old is incredibly grateful for the platform Rae has put him and his friends on. “What I really love about this show, and Issa for giving us this opportunity, is that it’s opened up [the door] for so much more,” Smith II shares. “Especially for me, I work in entertainment as my 9-to-5. So, being in front of camera, as opposed to on the back end, has really opened up a lot more [on]-camera opportunities for me.”

Being under the “Issa Rae umbrella” has been a game changer for the “Sweet Life: Los Angeles” cast. From attending red carpet premieres for the Hollywood creator’s other projects (including “Insecure” and “Rap Sh!t”) to earning an NAACP Image Award nomination, the “Sweet Life: Los Angeles” crew get a lot of perks just by being associated with Rae.

“Some people on the cast call her auntie, like we’re her nieces and nephews,” Smith II boasts of Rae. “I like to tell people that she’s exactly how she comes across on TV, in person. She’s the funniest, most loving, sometimes awkward person that I’ve ever met. But she’s literally amazing, and has been amazing throughout this whole process trying to make sure that she puts our wants and needs first. And understanding everything that we’re going through, [too] . . . I literally don’t know how else to describe it, besides it’s amazing to work with someone like her, who comes from where we come from, and is putting on for our city, in such a way, that it’s given us this opportunity to do the same.”

He adds: “To be able to do this in our backyard is the best part. I talked about getting recognised other places, but it’s so much fun walking around the streets that I grew up in and people that I’m so used to seeing be like, ‘Oh, I saw your face on a billboard’ . . . Doing it in your hometown is really the biggest part of that, and Issa puts on and does so much for LA, it makes it that much more fun.”.