With Girls premiering in the UK on Sky Atlantic, October 22nd, here are five good reasons to love the show's creator: the one and only Lena Dunham.
1) Her Tweets
Firstly, she has a hilarious twitter account that you should be following. When I discovered her feed, her last tweet was during a driver’s education class, taking a myspace-esque picture of her and her instructor. He did not look amused, and I spat my smoothie at the computer screen. Yes, I was in public.
2) Naked Cake at the Emmy’s
This year Lena starred in the Emmy’s opening skit. She was naked, in a toilet cubicle, eating cake. You read that right. When burst in on by Zooey Deschanel and Mindy Kaling, she sits with a deadpan expression and continues eating. Sadly, she didn’t win the Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy series, but she gained the biggest laugh of the opening skit and cemented her place in my heart.
3) Achievements Beyond Her Years
It always blows my mind to think that Dunham is only 26. She’s two years older than me. I’m sort of impressed but I’m mostly just really disappointed in myself. She’s written, directed and co-starred in both Tiny Furniture and Girls and has a whole arm of other film credits to her name. She totally also briefly shared the screen with Kate Winslet (another one of my loves) in Mildred Pierce (which I also totally recommend).
4) Facing Her Critics
Lena Dunham also meets critics dead in the eye, and she faces up to them, which is commendable. After the pilot of Girls was aired, some viewers criticised the all-white cast, set in culturally diverse New York. Rather than being defensive on this subject, Lena Dunham simply promised to address this in the second series, and rectify this mistake. Thank you, Lena.
5) Burritos
But my ultimate love was declared for the young writer when I read about the way in which she celebrated her recent Emmy nod for Girls. She told Vulture Magazine,
"I'm already looking for a menu because I'd like to eat a burrito at lunch. Literally, the minute I found out, I said, "I'm eating a burrito. No one is going to stop me. I'm having a fucking burrito.""
Image via Lena Dunham's Instagram