Lena Dunham on Public Scrutiny: 'I'm Lucky My Obsession Isn't with My Body'
LENA DUNHAM SPEWS THE TEA ON THE INSANITY OF HER GIRLS FANS AND THE BODY POSITIVE MOVEMENT
In a shocking exposé, Lena Dunham has dished out the juicy details on the toxic reaction she faced from fans over her nude scenes in Girls. The 39-year-old actress and director opened up to The Sunday Times STYLE about the "insane" level of obsession surrounding her body shape during the show's run.
As we all know, Lena's character Hannah Horvath was infamous for pushing the boundaries of on-screen nudity. But what we didn't know is just how much it affected the actress herself. In a candid interview, Lena revealed that she expected some kind of reaction to the explicit content, but not the constant scrutiny over her body.
"I mean, I knew people would be talking about the sex scenes and the level of nudity," she said. "But what I didn't expect was for my body to become this...this hotbed for discussion. It was insane!"
Lena also confessed that while it did take a toll on her, she's lucky that it never affected her self-esteem. "I've never been one of those people who beats themselves up over their appearance," she explained. "But I do have my own stuff to deal with – and it's just not about how I look."
Fast forward to the present day, and Lena has made it clear that she's done taking on roles that would put her body under a microscope. Last year, she revealed that her decision to cast Megan Stalter as the lead in her new series Too Much was partly due to her desire not to have her body "dissected" again.
"I'm just not up for it anymore," Lena confessed to The New Yorker. "I used to think that winning meant you could just keep doing it and not care what anyone thinks, but now I realize that winning is actually about protecting yourself and doing what you need to do."
Too Much follows the story of Jessica, a woman who falls in love with a British musician after moving from New York to London. The show is loosely based on Lena's own experiences – including her time living in London with her then-husband Jack Antonoff (remember him?). After their breakup, Lena married Luis Felber, a British-Peruvian musician and the composer of Too Much.
As for why she didn't star in the series herself, Lena explained: "I was thinking about what it is that allows women to be complicated on TV and still be seen and understood. And I think there's something really special about Megan's presence – she has this...this 'resting angel face'."
But here's the thing: Too Much isn't just a show about a plus-size woman finding love. It's not even a show about body positivity (although that's a topic Lena is clearly passionate about). "It's really important to me that there be a love affair between a guy and a girl where the fact that she's not teensy-weensy doesn't drive it," Lena emphasized.
In other words, Too Much is about telling authentic stories – and letting women of all shapes and sizes shine on screen. As Lena herself put it: "We don't want anyone to think we're doing a show about a beautiful man doing someone a favor just because she's not a size 0."
This comes after Lena confessed to struggling with the constant scrutiny over her body during Girls. In an interview with Refinery29 back in 2016, she revealed that it took a toll on her self-esteem – and even made her feel like she was being objectified.
"When I first started the show, it didn't occur to me that people would be seeing my nudity," she said. "Now, for better or worse, when I take my clothes off, I already can hear the din of the reaction."
It's clear that Lena has had enough of the body shaming and objectification. And with Too Much set to drop on Netflix this July, it looks like she's ready to take on a new chapter in her career – one where women are celebrated for who they are, not just their physical appearance.
