Lena Dunham on fatphobia, dating advice and her new London rom-com Too Much

Lena Dunham is almost synonymous with New York City. The US actress, writer and director rose to fame with her award-winning semi-autobiographical series Girls, which followed four 20-something women as they navigated love, life and friendship in the Big Apple.

But her latest project – a Netflix rom-com loosely based on her life over the last few years – is set on the other side of the Atlantic.

Too Much follows Jessica (Megan Stalter), who moves from New York to London after breaking up with her boyfriend, and falls in love with punk musician Felix (Will Sharpe).

Just as Dunham did when she moved to London in 2021, Jessica quickly learns the important things about the UK: everybody loves Paddington, the Jaffa Cake debate is highly contentious (it’s definitely a biscuit) and a “housing estate” isn’t the sprawling gardens of a lavish manor house.

Dunham tells the BBC that while Too Much has “superficial similarities” to her life and is “about 5% autobiographical”, she didn’t see herself ever playing the show’s protagonist in the way she did in Girls.

“I didn’t consider Jessica to be me – she’s inspired by my life but is her own character and was written with Megan in mind,” she says.

Megan Stalter says Girls “was all about sex and Too Much is about falling in love”, which is a similar to how Dunham sees the show.

There was also another reason she chose to step away from the spotlight. While filming Girls, in her 20s, Dunham’s body was heavily scrutinised and last year, she told the New Yorker she “was not up for having my body dissected again”.

She explains that body shaming was part of the reason she stepped further behind the camera. “Just being perceived was overwhelming,” she says.

Dunham has spent the past few years focusing on writing projects that don’t centre her as an actor.

She believes society has made some strides towards being more body positive, but says the culture we live in is still “so deeply fatphobic, misogynistic, racist and ageist and that informs our dynamic with our body”.

The 39-year-old has been vocal about challenges she’s faced with her health, particularly her endometriosis, which led her to have a hysterectomy aged 31.

Asked how her relationship with her body has changed since then, she says she’s developed a new love for how she looks.

“I’ve been able to have a relationship with my body that exists outside of the cultural pressures and I feel lucky for that.”

As well as reflecting on how her self image has changed, Dunham also says she’s learned a lot since her 20s.

Having been in the spotlight for more than decade, the actress has had her fair share of controversies.

In 2017, she defended Girls writer Murray Miller when he was accused of sexual assault. Dunham later apologised, saying it was “absolutely the wrong time” to share her perspective. Miller vehemently denied the claims and was not charged.

She also apologised for a “distasteful joke” she had made on a podcast saying she wished she’d experienced a termination when discussing the US abortion.

“I thought, back then, it was important to just keep going and be tough no matter what happened,” she reflects.

“I was so focused on work and not letting any of the noise in but I wish I had allowed myself to take more time and space. We all have to acknowledge our own complexities and sensitivities but it’s hard to wrap your head around that when you’re in your 20s.”

Dunham’s new 10-episode series stars Hacks actor Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe, best known for playing Ethan Spiller in The White Lotus and films such as A Real Pain.

Sharpe, 38, says he relates to the challenges his character faces, as “everyone carries baggage from their previous relationship” and feels vulnerable when they enter a new one.

Stalter relates to her character too. The 34-year-old says she often “felt like she was too much” in her 20s but with time, has come to be proud of her who she is.

Written with Dunham’s husband, musician Luis Felber, Too Much focuses on the evolution of one romantic relationship.

It’s refreshing in its realness – from serious conversations between Jessica and Felix to the fact Jessica’s media salary stretches to a housing estate in east London rather than a Bridget Jones-esque flat in Borough Market.

I ask Dunham if she has any dating tips for women in their 20s, given she’s been through the rollercoaster of trying to find a life partner.

She says the concept of dating has changed over the years, and back in the late noughties, it was “considered a last resort or a strange thing to meet someone online”.

Looking back, Dunham wishes she would have allowed herself to understand what she really wanted rather than just seeing the cultural expectations that were placed on her.

“If I was letting myself understand my own desire, my 20s would have looked really different romantically.”

Too Much is released on Netflix on 10 July.