Lena Dunham facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lena Dunham
Dunham in 2024
Born	(1986-05-13) May 13, 1986 (age 39) New York City, U.S.
Education	The New School Oberlin College (BA)
Occupation	Writer director actress producer
Years active	2006–present
Spouse(s)	Luis Felber ​ (m. 2021)​
Parents	Carroll Dunham (father) Laurie Simmons (mother)
Relatives	Cyrus Grace Dunham (sibling)

Lena Dunham (born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is best known for creating, writing, and starring in the HBO television series Girls, which aired from 2012 to 2017. For her work on Girls, she received several Emmy Award nominations and won two Golden Globe Awards. She also directed many episodes of Girls and was the first woman to win the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series.

Lena Dunham began her career by writing, directing, and starring in her independent film Tiny Furniture (2010). This film helped her win an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. More recently, she wrote and directed the films Sharp Stick (2022) and Catherine Called Birdy (2022).

In 2013, Lena Dunham was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine. In 2014, she released her first book, Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned". She also co-founded Lenny Letter, an online newsletter focused on women's issues, which ran for three years.

Lena Dunham has also appeared in other films like Supporting Characters (2012) and Happy Christmas (2014). She lent her voice to the character Mary in the animated film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea (2016). On television, besides Girls, she had guest roles in shows such as Scandal and The Simpsons (both 2015).

Early Life and Education

Lena Dunham was born in New York City. Her father, Carroll Dunham, is a painter, and her mother, Laurie Simmons, is an artist and photographer. Her mother is known for using dolls and dollhouse furniture in her art. Lena's father is from an English background, and her mother is Jewish. Lena has said she feels very connected to her Jewish culture.

She attended Friends Seminary and then Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn. There, she met Jemima Kirke, who would later star with her in Tiny Furniture and Girls. As a teenager, Lena also won a Scholastic Art and Writing Award. She studied at The New School for a year before going to Oberlin College. She graduated from Oberlin in 2008 with a degree in creative writing.

Lena has a younger sibling named Cyrus, who graduated from Brown University in 2014. Cyrus appeared in Lena's first film, Creative Nonfiction, and also in Tiny Furniture. Lena and Cyrus grew up in Brooklyn and spent their summers in Salisbury, Connecticut.

Career Highlights

Early Works and College Films

While studying at Oberlin College, Lena Dunham made several independent short films and shared them on YouTube. Many of her early films explored themes of self-discovery and were made in a "mumblecore" style. This style often features young people talking a lot about their personal relationships. For example, in her 2006 film Pressure, a character feels pressured to have a new experience after her friends talk about theirs.

Lena explained that she didn't go to film school. Instead, she focused on creating short, funny video sketches and sharing them online.

Dunham on the set of her web series Delusional Downtown Divas (2009)

Another early film, The Fountain, showed her brushing her teeth in a public fountain at Oberlin College. This video became very popular online. Lena was surprised by some of the comments and decided to remove the video.

Her early films, including Pressures (2006), Open the Door (2007), Hooker on Campus (2007), and The Fountain (2007), were later included as extras on the Tiny Furniture DVD. In 2007, Lena also starred in a ten-episode web series called Tight Shots for Nerve.com. This series was about young people trying to make a movie and be artistic.

In 2009, Lena created the web series Delusional Downtown Divas, which made fun of the art scene in New York City. She and her friends used money from babysitting and art jobs to make the series. Also in 2009, Lena's film Creative Nonfiction premiered at the South by Southwest Festival. In this comedy, she plays Ella, a college student trying to finish a screenplay.

Breakthrough with Tiny Furniture

Dunham speaking at the Maryland Film Festival in 2010

Lena Dunham's career took off with her 2010 film Tiny Furniture. This film was partly based on her own life. It won Best Narrative Feature at the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference and was shown at other festivals like the Maryland Film Festival. Lena played the main character, Aura. Her real-life mother, Laurie Simmons, played Aura's mother, and her sibling, Cyrus, played Aura's on-screen sibling. Lena also won an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay for Tiny Furniture.

The success of Tiny Furniture led to Lena getting a deal with HBO to develop a new show. HBO connected her with experienced showrunner Jenni Konner. Jenni Konner was a big fan of Tiny Furniture and was excited to work with Lena.

Lena's profile also grew when she was featured in The New York Times. This article helped introduce her to producer Judd Apatow. Apatow watched Tiny Furniture and was impressed that Lena had written and directed it herself. He reached out to her, and they decided to work together on a new project for HBO.

Mainstream Success with Girls

Dunham at the premiere of Supporting Characters at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival

Lena Dunham's television series, Girls, was approved by HBO in early 2011. The show follows Hannah Horvath (played by Lena Dunham), a young writer in her twenties trying to make a living in New York City. Some of Hannah's challenges, like being cut off financially by her parents and making difficult choices, were inspired by Lena's own experiences.

Lena said that Girls showed a part of life that wasn't often seen on TV, especially compared to shows like ... and the City. She felt there was a "hole-in-between" space for young women figuring out their lives after college.

The first season of Girls premiered on HBO on April 15, 2012, and received positive reviews. Critics praised the show for being insightful and funny. However, the series also received some criticism for its lack of diverse characters and Lena's frequent on-screen appearances without clothes.

For the first season, Lena was nominated for four Emmy Awards for her acting, writing, and directing. She also won two Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. In February 2013, Lena became the first woman to win a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series for her work on Girls.

Girls was renewed for a second season in April 2012. The first season finale was watched by over one million viewers. The second season also received strong reviews, with critics calling it "sharper, smarter, and funnier." The show continued for a total of six seasons, ending on April 16, 2017.

Dunham with Avy Kaufman at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival

In late 2012, Lena signed a deal with Random House to publish her first book. The book, a collection of essays titled Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned", was released in September 2014. It quickly became a bestseller, reaching number two on The New York Times Best Seller list.

In 2015, Lena launched A Casual Romance Productions, her own company to create TV and film projects. She also had a guest role in the ABC drama series Scandal in March 2015.

In 2016, Lena appeared in her mother's film, My Art. She also voiced Mary in the animated film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea. In 2017, she played Valerie Solanas in American Horror Story: Cult.

Recent Projects

Since 2016, Lena Dunham has been working on a second book. In February 2018, her production company announced it would produce Camping, a remake of a British comedy series for HBO. Jennifer Garner starred in the show, with Lena and Jenni Konner as showrunners and writers. Camping received mixed reviews from critics.

In August 2018, it was announced that Lena would appear in the film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film was released on July 26, 2019, and Lena played the role of Catherine "Gypsy" Share. In October 2018, Lena and Jenni Konner ended their partnership and closed their production company. In August 2019, Lena launched a new production company called Good Thing Going.

In March 2020, Lena announced she would write a serialized novel called Verified Strangers to help people feel less alone during a time of social isolation. The story began appearing on the Vogue website later that month. Lena also directed and produced the first episode of HBO's Industry in 2020. That same year, she appeared in The Stand In. In 2021, Lena had a small role in the film Music and was an executive producer for the HBO Max series Generation.

In 2022, Lena Dunham's second feature film, Sharp Stick, was released. She also directed, wrote, and produced her third film, Catherine Called Birdy. This film is based on the popular children's novel by Karen Cushman. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2022. The film was released in select theaters on September 23, 2022, and became available to stream on Prime Video on October 7, 2022. In December 2023, Netflix announced a new series called Too Much, which Lena co-created, wrote, produced, and directed. Production for this series began in the United Kingdom in 2024.

In the Media

Lena Dunham has been featured on the covers of several magazines, including Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, and Rolling Stone. In 2017, she was praised for appearing on the cover of Glamour magazine in an unedited photo that showed her natural skin texture.

Lenny Letter

In 2015, Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner co-founded Lenny Letter, an online newsletter focused on women's issues. It was supported by advertising from companies like Hearst Corporation and Condé Nast. Besides the regular newsletter, Lenny Letter also published special issues featuring fiction and poetry.

Some notable articles included an essay by actress Jennifer Lawrence about the gender wage gap in Hollywood and one by singer Alicia Keys about her choice to wear little to no make-up.

In October 2018, Lena and Jenni Konner announced that Lenny Letter would be closing down. This was reportedly due to fewer subscribers and challenges in growing the platform.

Personal Life

From 2012 to 2017, Lena Dunham dated Jack Antonoff, a musician known for being the lead guitarist of the band fun. and the founder of Bleachers. They separated in December 2017, and their separation was described as friendly.

Lena was diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) as a child. She managed her anxiety with medication until 2018. In April 2020, she celebrated two years of being sober.

In February 2018, Lena wrote an essay for Vogue about her decision to have a hysterectomy due to a condition called endometriosis. In 2019, she shared that she has Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (EDS), a condition that affects connective tissues.

In July 2020, Lena shared her experience with COVID-19 on Instagram to encourage people to take social distancing seriously. She had severe symptoms for three weeks but was not hospitalized.

In January 2021, Lena began dating English-Peruvian musician Luis Felber after a mutual friend set them up. They married in a Jewish ceremony in September 2021.

In 2024, a TV show called Finding Your Roots revealed that Lena Dunham is a descendant of Stephanus van Cortlandt (1643–1700), who was the first mayor of New York City born in America.

Political Activities

Lena Dunham supports gun control, immigrant rights, and LGBT rights.

In 2012, she appeared in a video advertisement to support President Barack Obama's re-election. The video compared voting for the first time to having a first experience, which sparked some discussion. Lena defended the ad, saying that while the video might be lighthearted, its message about voting for women's rights was serious.

In 2014, Lena Dunham received the Horizon Award from Point Foundation for her support of the gay community.

In April 2016, she wrote in support of Hillary Clinton. After Donald Trump won the election, Lena stated she would stay in the United States to continue fighting for what she believes is right.

In June 2017, Lena endorsed Jim Johnson, a Democratic candidate for governor in New Jersey. Later that month, she also supported Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, in the United Kingdom general election.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Lena Dunham para niños

• List of Oberlin College and Conservatory people