Did Lena Dunham Out Her 'Girls' Character Hannah Horvath?

Lena Dunham's newest series, "Too Much," premieres this week on Netflix with its first season of ten episodes. But in a lengthy interview with Variety, she dropped a surprising revelation about her most famous character – Hannah Horvath from "Girls."

It was her breakout role on the HBO series that was a sensation when it arrived in 2012. Created by Dunham, "Girls" was called the "Sex and the City" for the 21st century. It also followed four women – all Millennials – as they balanced their professional and personal lives in New York City. Hannah's roommate Marnie Marie Michaels (Allison Williams), their British friend Jessa Johansson (Jemima Kirke), and her younger cousin Shoshanna Shapiro (Zosia Mamet). The series established the careers of the actresses, as well as its male stars, Adam Driver and Andrew Rannells over its six seasons and 62 episodes.

But what happened to these characters since the show went off the air in 2017? Asked by Variety, Dunham said: "Shoshanna was married to, then divorced from, the mayor of New York City, and she runs an athleisure startup that's zero-waste. Marnie – it's third marriage. She still sings, but I think Marnie really needs to take it to sex and love addicts anonymous. Jessa is unvaccinated and lives on a boat in Croatia. Adam is a cult theater actor, and he's probably living in Berlin, and Ray is still on city council and running his coffee shop and doing better than anyone. Elijah is the fourth lead on a sitcom, making a good amount of money and still looking for love in all the wrong places."

As for Hannah, "Dunham lets out a yelp as she realizes her own character slipped her mind," writes Variety. "Oh my God, I forgot about her!" she says. "She teaches at Bard and loves raising her son. She probably has a girlfriend who's, like, a chef. And she's less obsessed with being famous. That is where I feel that she would land."

Wait. Did Dunham just out Hannah? Apparently, she did. It was the first time she acknowledged that Hannah was bisexual or exclusively gay. Over the show's seven seasons, she had relationships – often toxic – with men, primarily Adam Sackler (Adam Driver), a carpenter-turned-actor. She had a less stormy relationship with Fran Parker (Jake Lacy), a schoolteacher whose conventionality leads her to break it off with him; and, most significantly, Paul-Louis, a surfer and water-skiing instructor Hannah meets on an assignment. The two have a one-night stand and she becomes pregnant. She has no interest in pursuing a relationship with him, who she considers another of the self-absorbed men she becomes involved; but informs him of her pregnancy and her decision to have the child. He has no interest in being part of the child's life, but suggests the name Grover for the child, which Hannah eventually chooses.

As for "Too Much," Dunham explained that she developed it with her husband British musician Luis Felber, and it echoes the couple's own relationship. On it, Megan Stalter, the break-out performer from HBO Max's "Hacks", plays an American workaholic who moves to London after a bad break-up. On her first night out, she meets Felix, a British musician (played by Will Sharpe from second season of "The White Lotus") and they instantly connect. What follows is how Jessica adjusts to living in London, and what becomes of her relationship with Felix.

How it reflects Dunham's own life is that after she broke up with musician Jack Antonoff and dissolved the production company she created with "Girls" co-showrunner Jenni Konner, she headed to the UK. There she directed the first episode of the HBO Max hit "Industry" and stayed, finding a new home in London. After briefly return to New York City during the Pandemic, she returned to Britain to shoot the film "Catherine Called Birdy." She planned to stay for three months, but three weeks into production, she was set up on a blind date with Felber. After that first date, Dunham "made the decision to see what happened" and stay in London, she tells Variety. Eight months later – yes, they moved fast – they were married in an intimate ceremony in Soho.

Post-"Girls," she told Variety she wasn't sure what she wanted to do next; but after meeting Felber, she had a new burst of creativity and wanted to write something that was a homage to to the romantic comedies she grew up loving, like "Notting Hill" and "Bridget Jones's Diary," but one, she told Variety, that wouldn't gloss over how difficult a relationship can be. "You have to try – you don't just fall into each other's arms," Dunham says. "Once you've gotten together, the biggest challenge to get past is yourself. And I had certainly found that in my case."

She suggested the collaboration to Felber a few months into their relationship, and he agreed to collaborate, providing the music. Dunham decided not to play her alter-ego in the series, and instead plays Stalter's sister who is going through a messy divorce with "Girls" co-star Andrew Rannells. Dunham added that she never had seen "Hacks," but on the advice of actor Andrew Scott (who appears in a cameo in "Too Much" as a pretentious director), was told to look at Stalter, whom he called her Dunham's "spiritual sister." She did, and started to write the series with her in mind, though they had yet to meet.

A huge "Girls" fan, Stalter reacted with disbelief when asked to join the series. Once she did, she became Dunham bestie. "We feel like two kids that are telling secrets and laughing, and just able to be our childlike selves together," she says. "And that made it really interesting to be directed by her, because I feel so connected to her."

Dunham describes the first season's narrative arc this way: "During the 10-episode first season, we see them fight, fuck, make mistakes and make up, as flashbacks let viewers in on what's really holding them back." And, Variety adds:"Though Dunham and Felber each put a bit of themselves into Jess and Felix, Dunham insists that viewers not see 'Too Much' as a by-the-book retelling of their romance. "It's certainly not quote-unquote based on a true story, but like everything I do, there is an element of my own life that I can't help but inject."