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When Kendrick Sampson received the script for the season three finale of Insecure [3], he had no idea how much it would parallel his own life and mental health struggles. Now, he's opening up about it all. For those who don't watch the show, Kendrick's character, Nathan, returned with flowers and sadness in his eyes after ghosting Issa for a month [4]. The two had been romantically involved, and things were escalating, so his disappearance came as a surprise to not only Issa, but to viewers as well. He explained that he was "in a bad place" and needed to go home to Houston.
On one hand, we understand that he's struggling deeply with depression [5], but on the other, we cannot excuse his lack of communication for a full month — and Kendrick agrees. The 30-year-old actor [6] has a lot to say about what's going on with Nathan and why he's "complicated AF."
"Ghosting/No communication is probably my biggest pet peeve. It really has f*cked me up many times and I've talked [about] that. But I haven't talked a lot about my history and family history with mental health. I'm blown away by all of the articles and tweets about mental health around this last episode. That's super encourageing!" he wrote in a lengthy Instagram post [8]. "Reading that last scene in the last episode really broke my heart because I know it all too well. I've seen it first hand with my close family and friends. I have debilitating anxiety problems and I know trying to explain can be super frustrating. I've seen mental health problems constantly dismissed and excused in my life and in others."
He added, "People of colour, especially men, are not allowed to have mental illness. By no means am I excusing no communication. And it doesn't excuse Nathan ghosting! It's a complex issue."
While Nathan's struggles with depression have yet to be explored on the HBO series, the finale was a nod at how necessary it is to portray these real-life issues on television. In the last five minutes of the finale [9], Kendrick's character showed the pain and reality of facing your mental health issues head on, and in real life, he's doing the same.