Lena Dunham

Lena Dunham | Actor, Producer, Director
* 13 May 1986, New York City

The multi-talented Lena Dunham rose to international fame in 2012 as the screenwriter, producer and director of the American TV series Girls. She also played the lead role in the show of a kind of anti-star called Hannah. Lena won two Golden Globes for the series and was voted Coolest Person of the Year by Time Magazine. 

In an industry where the pressure of unattainable perfection reigns, Lena manages to sell her imperfections perfectly. Instead of possessing the classic Hollywood figure, she is refreshingly normal and down-to-earth. Joyously blunt, open and radically honest, Lena says the things that other people are scared to say. She can’t stand it when subject areas are hushed up, she doesn’t shy away from awkward topics.

Lena deals very openly with the topics of nudity, body culture, and illness. She repeatedly posts pictures of herself in unflattering poses wearing no make-up and baggy clothing – beautifully imperfect and always with a funny comment. Lena doesn’t subjugate herself, she resists stereotypical beauty ideals, both in her TV series and in real life. When she feels like it, she opts to act more like a man or a child, all of which is made more endearing by her brilliant sense of humour. 

Lena talks openly about her health. Anxiety has been a key element of her life since she was a teenager; she took psychotropic medication for years to the point of addiction. She’s also very open about having had her uterus removed, choosing to put an end to the pain of the endometriosis she suffered with for ten years with surgery. More than anything else, Lena is grateful to herself: “From the most pained place, I somehow knew to choose myself”. Life continues to be a challenge, but every day she is pleasantly surprised by the richness and intensity of our existence.

Lena Dunham represents a new generation of women with an essential attitude: self-love.