Lena Dunham on fatphobia, courting recommendation and her new London rom-com Too A lot

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Lena Dunham is sort of synonymous with New York Metropolis. The US actress, author and director rose to fame along with her award-winning semi-autobiographical sequence Women, which adopted 4 20-something girls as they navigated love, life and friendship within the Huge Apple.

However her newest challenge - a Netflix rom-com loosely based mostly on her life over the previous few years - is about on the opposite aspect of the Atlantic.

Too A lot follows Jessica (Megan Stalter), who strikes from New York to London after breaking apart along with her boyfriend, and falls in love with punk musician Felix (Will Sharpe).

Simply as Dunham did when she moved to London in 2021, Jessica rapidly learns the essential issues concerning the UK: everyone loves Paddington, the Jaffa Cake debate is very contentious (it is positively a biscuit) and a "housing property" is not the sprawling gardens of a lavish manor home.

Dunham tells the BBC that whereas Too A lot has "superficial similarities" to her life and is "about 5% autobiographical", she did not see herself ever taking part in the present's protagonist in the way in which she did in Women.

"I did not take into account Jessica to be me - she's impressed by my life however is her personal character and was written with Megan in thoughts," she says.

Megan Stalter says Women "was all about intercourse and Too A lot is about falling in love", which is a just like how Dunham sees the present.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/1b2f/live/d52f6a80-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/1b2f/live/d52f6a80-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/1b2f/live/d52f6a80-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/1b2f/live/d52f6a80-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/1b2f/live/d52f6a80-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/1b2f/live/d52f6a80-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/1b2f/live/d52f6a80-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/1b2f/live/d52f6a80-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Netflix Megan Stalter as Jessica in Too Much. Megan is wearing a blue coat and a pink bag, she is carrying a small dog in a blue jumper" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Netflix Dunham says there are some autobiographical components to Too A lot

There was additionally another excuse she selected to step away from the highlight. Whereas filming Women, in her 20s, Dunham's physique was closely scrutinised and final yr, she instructed the New Yorker she "was not up for having my physique dissected once more".

She explains that physique shaming was a part of the explanation she stepped additional behind the digicam. "Simply being perceived was overwhelming," she says.

Dunham has spent the previous few years specializing in writing initiatives that do not centre her as an actor.

She believes society has made some strides in direction of being extra physique constructive, however says the tradition we stay in continues to be "so deeply fatphobic, misogynistic, racist and ageist and that informs our dynamic with our physique".

The 39-year-old has been vocal about challenges she's confronted along with her well being, notably her endometriosis, which led her to have a hysterectomy aged 31.

Requested how her relationship along with her physique has modified since then, she says she's developed a brand new love for the way she appears to be like.

"I have been capable of have a relationship with my physique that exists exterior of the cultural pressures and I really feel fortunate for that."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2d3c/live/17d3dd30-55ce-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2d3c/live/17d3dd30-55ce-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2d3c/live/17d3dd30-55ce-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/2d3c/live/17d3dd30-55ce-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2d3c/live/17d3dd30-55ce-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2d3c/live/17d3dd30-55ce-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/2d3c/live/17d3dd30-55ce-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2d3c/live/17d3dd30-55ce-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke and Zosia Mamet are seen filming the HBO series 'Girls' on May 25, 2012 in New York City." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Photographs Women ran for six sequence between 2012 and 2017

In addition to reflecting on how her self picture has modified, Dunham additionally says she's realized quite a bit since her 20s.

Having been within the highlight for greater than decade, the actress has had her justifiable share of controversies.

In 2017, she defended Women author Murray Miller when he was accused of sexual assault. Dunham later apologised, saying it was "completely the flawed time" to share her perspective. Miller vehemently denied the claims and was not charged.

She additionally apologised for a "distasteful joke" she had made on a podcast saying she wished she'd skilled a termination when discussing the US abortion.

"I assumed, again then, it was essential to only hold going and be robust it doesn't matter what occurred," she displays.

"I used to be so centered on work and never letting any of the noise in however I want I had allowed myself to take extra time and house. All of us must acknowledge our personal complexities and sensitivities but it surely's laborious to wrap your head round that if you're in your 20s."

'I've felt like I am an excessive amount of'

Dunham's new 10-episode sequence stars Hacks actor Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe, greatest recognized for enjoying Ethan Spiller in The White Lotus and movies resembling A Actual Ache.

Sharpe, 38, says he pertains to the challenges his character faces, as "everybody carries baggage from their earlier relationship" and feels susceptible once they enter a brand new one.

Stalter pertains to her character too. The 34-year-old says she usually "felt like she was an excessive amount of" in her 20s however with time, has come to be pleased with her who she is.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/f911/live/d06bef00-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/f911/live/d06bef00-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f911/live/d06bef00-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/f911/live/d06bef00-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/f911/live/d06bef00-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/f911/live/d06bef00-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/f911/live/d06bef00-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f911/live/d06bef00-55c8-11f0-a1ca-8125e59f5995.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Netflix Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe as Jessica and Felix. The pair are sitting in bed looking at each other as Megan holds a dog wrapped in a blanket" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Netflix Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe say they each see similarities between themselves and their characters in Too A lot

Written with Dunham's husband, musician Luis Felber, Too A lot focuses on the evolution of 1 romantic relationship.

It is refreshing in its realness - from severe conversations between Jessica and Felix to the very fact Jessica's media wage stretches to a housing property in east London reasonably than a Bridget Jones-esque flat in Borough Market.

I ask Dunham if she has any courting suggestions for ladies of their 20s, given she's been by way of the rollercoaster of looking for a life associate.

She says the idea of courting has modified over time, and again within the late noughties, it was "thought-about a final resort or a wierd factor to fulfill somebody on-line".

Trying again, Dunham needs she would have allowed herself to grasp what she actually needed reasonably than simply seeing the cultural expectations that had been positioned on her.