Lena Dunham’s Reason for Not Starring in New Semi-Autobiographical Series ‘Too Much’ Revealed

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Lena Dunham drew on her personal experiences for the upcoming Netflix series Too Much, but she explained her reasons for not wanting to act in it in a new interview with The New Yorker, published on Tuesday, July 9. Reflecting on her time making the critically-acclaimed series Girls, Lena, 38, said that part of the reason was because she didn’t want to have her “body dissected” like when she starred in the HBO series. “I knew from the very beginning I would not be the star of it,” she said.

Lena explained that one of the primary reasons that she wouldn’t star in the series was, because she was excited to work with Hacks actress Megan Stalter, who she was very complimentary to. “I had seen Meg Stalter’s work, and I was very inspired by her. She’s unbelievable; I think people are going to be so blown away. We know how funny she is,” she said. “There’s an openness to Meg’s presence that I think goes a long way. She has whatever the opposite of resting b***h face is. She has resting angel face.”

(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

The actress continued and then reflected on her time on her previous hit sitcom. “I also think that 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,” she said. “I forgot that winning is actually just protecting yourself and doing what you need to do to keep making work.”

Too Much is about an American woman who moves to London following a breakup. It tracks the connection that she makes with a new man, played by Will Sharpe. The series has a ten episode run, and it will premiere on Netflix.

Lena co-created the series with her husband Luis Felber, and she’s spoken about the excitement to work with Netflix on the project. “Netflix has been so deeply supportive of the vision, which is to create a romantic comedy that makes us root for love, brings joy but also has the jagged edges of life,” she told the streamer’s news site Tudum.