Lena Dunham Reflects on Public Discourse Around Her Body in Girls’ Nude Scenes

Lena Dunham has recalled the insanity of the public discussion surrounding her body during her nude scenes on her series Girls.

The actress and director, 39, created and starred in the acclaimed HBO show from 2012 to 2017, and frequently bared all as character Hannah Horvath to film the show’s trailblazing sex scenes.

However, the frank depictions of sex stirred much controversy at the time, with particular discourse centering on Lena and her body shape, including from cruel trolls.

Reflecting on the furor in a new interview, the star admitted she had never expected the level of obsession around her figure and admitted she was ‘lucky’ that it didn’t affect her as much as it could’ve.

Speaking to The Sunday Times STYLE, Lena said: ‘I expected that people would have a response to the kind of sex the show was depicting or the level of nudity, but the idea that my body, the shape of my body, would become such a hotbed for discussion? It was insane. 

‘I can’t say I was never rocked, but I’m lucky enough that my thing has never been looking at a picture of myself and picking myself apart or feeling tortured about how I looked — it’s just not my area. I have my own stuff I’m tortured about, but it wasn’t that.’

Lena Dunham has recalled the insanity of the public discussion surrounding her body during her nude scenes on her series Girls (pictured last week)

The actress and director, 39, created and starred in the acclaimed HBO show from 2012 to 2017, and frequently bared all as character Hannah Horvath to film the show’s trailblazing sex scenes (pictured on show)

She added that we are now living in an ‘Ozempiced-out moment’, where the body positive movement has seemingly disappeared. 

Last year, Lena revealed that her desire to not have her ‘body dissected again’ was the reason she cast Megan Stalter to play the lead role in the semi-autobiographical series, Too Much – which is set to drop on Netflix on July 10.

Speaking to the New Yorker in July about why she didn’t play the role herself, she said: ‘I was not willing to have another experience like what I’d experienced around [Girls] at this point in my life.

‘Physically, I was just not up for having my body dissected again. It was a hard choice, not to cast Meg — because I knew I wanted Meg — but to admit that to myself. 

‘I used to think that winning meant you just keep doing it and you don’t care what anybody thinks. I forgot that winning is actually just protecting yourself and doing what you need to do to keep making work.’

While she heaped praise on actress Megan, saying: ‘I remember looking at Meg and being, like, “You are my muse. You inspire me every single day to go home and tap out pages upon pages.” I definitely don’t want to be my own muse.’

Too Much follows thinly-veiled character Jessica, who falls in love with a British musician called Felix (Will Sharpe) after moving from New York to North London. 

Lena also happens to be a New Yorker who had a bad break-up with singer Jack Antonoff and then moved to London where she married British-Peruvian musician Luis Felber – who’s the composer and co-creator of Too Much.

Reflecting on the furor in a new interview, the star admitted she had never expected the level of obsession around her figure and admitted she was ‘lucky’ that it didn’t affect her as much as it could’ve

Last year, Lena revealed that her desire to not have her ‘body dissected again’ was the reason she cast Megan Stalter to play the lead role in the semi-autobiographical series, Too Much – which is set to drop on Netflix on July 10 (Megan pictured in show)

The eight-time Emmy nominee acknowledged: ‘It’s not a huge leap. But I knew from the very beginning I would not be the star of it.

‘I was thinking a lot about, like, What is it that allows women to be complicated on TV and still be embraced and seen and understood?

‘There’s an openness to Meg’s presence that I think goes a long way. She has whatever the opposite of resting bitch face is. She has resting angel face.’ 

She went on to emphasize that the show isn’t conceived around the idea of plus-size woman finding love, with her curves being incidental to the story.

Lena explained: ‘Meg is one of the beautiful women working today. She is so alarmingly gorgeous. The fact that she is not a size 0, or that she’s not part of the new class of Ozempic-thin women, is not part of it…

‘It’s really important to me that there be a love affair between a guy and a girl where the fact that she is not teensy-weensy doesn’t drive it.

‘We were, like, “We don’t want anyone to think we’re doing a show about a beautiful man doing someone a favor.”‘

It comes after Lena previously admitted struggling with her frequent nude scenes on Girls as the seasons went on.

Speaking to Refinery29 in 2016, ahead of the final season of the show, she confessed her feelings towards stripping off on screen had been affected by the huge amount of scrutiny over her body that she was hit with.

Too Much follows thinly-veiled character Jessica, who falls in love with a British musician called Felix (Will Sharpe) after moving from New York to North London seen)

Lena also happens to be a New Yorker who had a bad break-up with singer Jack Antonoff and then moved to London where she married British-Peruvian musician Luis Felber – who’s the composer and co-creator of Too Much (pictured together in 2022)

It comes after Lena previously admitted struggling with her frequent nude scenes on Girls as the seasons went on

Speaking in 2016, ahead of the final season of Girls she confessed her feelings towards stripping off on screen had been affected by the huge amount of scrutiny over her body that she was hit with (pictured in 2016)

She confessed: ‘When I first started the show, I wasn’t in a relationship, no one knew who I was, I was just kind of living for the work. 

‘So when I took my clothes off on camera, it was just an extension of that. It didn’t occur to me that in the first season, TV critics and people on the Internet would be seeing this.

‘Now, for better or worse, when I take my clothes off, I already can hear the din of the reaction.’

While she added that it wasn’t only external pressure that has changed her outlook on nudity, but also her age.

Lena said: ‘Part of getting older for me has actually been feeling more modest. Unfortunately, Hannah Horvath doesn’t always allow for that. I hope to reprise some of her nudity in this final season with vigor’.