logo
Every A-List Cameo In Lena Dunham's Too Much, Explained

Every A-List Cameo In Lena Dunham's Too Much, Explained

Yahoo21-07-2025
Lena Dunham's TV genius is finally back on our screens with her new Netflix rom-com Too Much.
The feel-good comedy-drama stars Hacks' Megan Stalter as kooky New Yorker Jessica, who moves across the pond to London after a breakup before falling for aspiring musician Felix, played by The White Lotus' Will Sharpe.
We've already looked at the impressive cast and their various past projects, including many familiar faces like Rita Wilson, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Girls star Andrew Rannells.
But there's also a host of cameos and smaller guest roles throughout the 10 episodes.
Here's your guide to all of them…
Emily Ratajkowski
The US model and actor plays Megan's ex's cool and stylish new fiancéeWendy Jones.
Emily has been friends with Lena for a long time, so it doesn't come as much of a surprise that the Girls creator found a perfect casting in her.
'We've always had a lot of conversations around women that you feel like you're connected to in strange ways, but you don't totally know them,' Emily told Variety of her role recently.
She also explained that Lena had initially envisioned her character as a lawyer, before Emily suggested that she be an influencer instead.
Andrew Scott
If there's one actor who's guaranteed to make a splash no matter how big or small the role, it's Andrew Scott.
The Sherlock star plays a divorced ad director called James Wenlich-Rice, who's hired to shoot the advert Jessica is overseeing. Unsurprisingly, he ends up having some of the best (and most cringeworthy) lines in the whole series.
Andrew previously starred in Lena's 2022 movie Catherine Called Birdy, and it turns out he had a pretty big part in getting Megan cast in the first place.
In an interview with Glamour, Lena revealed that the Fleabag star first introduced her to Megan's viral comedy videos and insisted they meet. '[He] basically said, 'You two have to meet, you have something to make together',' she recalled.
Kit Harington
Since his starring role as Jon Snow in Game Of Thrones, we've been able to watch Kit Harington demonstrate his range in projects like Eternals, The Beast Within and Industry.
Now he appears in Too Much's flashback scenes as Jessica's late father, who died of Parkinson's disease when she was young.
Richard E. Grant
The legendary British actor isn't quite a fleeting cameo, since he plays a key role as Jessica's UK-based boss, Jonno Ratigan.
In one scene he makes his employee reel off a list of problems he has with Jessica, including her pungent lunches and smelly feet.
Unsurprisingly, he manages to strike a hilarious balance between personable and passive aggressive – he even gets into a physical altercation with Felix in one scene.
Naomi Watts
TheMulholland Drive actor appears in the series as Ann Ratigan, the posh wife of Jonno who forms an instant bond with Jessica (over a few lines of cocaine, no less).
Envisioning the A-lister in a comedy role was exciting to Lena, who told The Hollywood Reporter that she wanted to write her something that was 'not an elegant lady role, that's like an elegant lady to the left role, like an elegant lady who's railing cocaine role'.
Jessica Alba
The Fantastic Four actor stars as herself in the first episode of Too Much, playing a client of Jessica's agency on a commercial shoot.
When a misogynistic director tries to 'punch up' the script, Jessica Alba asks Too Much's Jessica (Megan Stalter) to step in and collaborate with her, before she becomes overwhelmed and runs off in a panic.
Adwoa Aboah
The British actor and model appears in a few scenes as Felix's recent ex Linnea. While she's proven her acting talents playing Becks in Top Boy, Lena explained that hiring models for the series was very intentional.
'And I think modelling is such an expressive art and models are very often really good actors because they have to do that,' she told Radio Times.
'What I love about Emily [Ratajkowski] and Adwoa [Aboah] is that, in addition to being models, they're so outspoken in their activism, in their writing, in their creative expression,' she added.
Stephen Fry
The British actor and presenter plays Felix's dad Simon in the series, who finds himself in financial hardship.
He appears in episode seven – which sheds some light on Felix's upbringing – and the finale titled The Idea Of Glue.
This also isn't his first collaboration with Lena, having played the writer-director's father in the 2024 tragicomedy Treasure.
Rhea Perlman
The Cheers and Matilda actor features as Jessica's cheeky grandmother Dottie, who does her best to offer advice on her chaotic love life.
'Lena has a way of creating and directing that makes people feel free,' the actor said in an interview with The New York Times.
'Maybe some people would be turned off by that much sex and that much talk of sex,' she continued. 'But she made it so funny and so real.'
Carlos O'Connell
Fans of Dublin post-punk heroes Fontaines D.C. will have instantly recognised Carlos O'Connell's pink hair in Too Much, with the guitarist appearing as Felix's bandmate Eoin.
Their fictional band The Feelers actually features original music from Attawalpa, the band of Too Much co-creator and Lena's husband Luis Felber.
This marks the musician's latest foray into acting, having made a cameo in Andrea Arnold's 2024 movie Bird.
Don Letts
Another real-life musician appears in the series in the shape of legendary British DJ Don Letts.
The Big Audio Dynamite co-founder features as a club emcee called Jonah The Ox.
There's also a few more details sprinkled throughout the show for real music buffs, like when Jessica's ex Zev (played by Michael Zegen) is featured wearing an Idles T-shirt in one scene.
Rita Ora
The Anywhere singer appears late in the series as herself to play Santa Claus in a Christmas advertising campaign, and also hypes Jessica up after her social media scandal.
The pop star posted on social media that she had 'so much fun filming' in the show, which she shared alongside a picture of her with Lena.
Jennifer Saunders
The Absolutely Fabulous star is in episode nine's clubbing scene, appearing briefly as an older woman called Fiona who sleeps with Felix in a moment of self sabotage.
Felix remarked in an interview with Netflix's Tudum how 'every week, there'd be somebody new that is a hero of yours' appearing in the show.
Lena said that even she was starstruck, adding: 'I was like, 'I cannot fucking believe this is happening'.'
Alix Earle
If you've ever watched a 'Get Ready With Me' video on TikTok, there's a good chance one of them was by internet personality and model Alix Earle.
She appears as herself in episode nine, posting a video in support of Jessica's viral videos.
Jake Shane
The US comedian and influencer known as Octopusslover8 also appears as himself in episode nine to show his support to Jessica.
It's also a bit of a reunion with Jessica, having previously featured in three episodes of Hacks season four in the role of Social Media Girlie.
Related...
Megan Stalter Makes Surprising Admission About THAT Outrageous Too Much Spit Scene
Thought The Stars Of Too Much Looked Familiar? Here's Where You've Seen The Cast Before
Is Too Much Lena Dunham's 'Worthy Successor To Girls' Or A 'Total Disappointment'? Critics Can't Agree
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Drake's Decade-Old Single Hits A New All-Time Peak
Drake's Decade-Old Single Hits A New All-Time Peak

Forbes

time5 minutes ago

  • Forbes

Drake's Decade-Old Single Hits A New All-Time Peak

2025 is turning out to be another very busy year for Drake. The Canadian hip-hop musician dropped a new album, Some Sexy Songs 4 U alongside PartyNextDoor, just a few months ago. The collection was powered by a number of hit songs, including 'Nokia,' which continues to do its thing on the charts, but Drake appears ready to move on to the next chapter. He recently shared 'What Did I Miss?,' which has only spent a few frames on tallies globally, and 'Which One' with Central Cee is expected to earn a healthy debut in short order. With so much exciting new music for fans to enjoy, it's surprising that one of Drake's oldest singles is gaining ground. Drake's 'Headlines' Surges On the current edition of the Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles chart, the U.K.'s ranking of the top-selling tracks in the genre, Drake occupies five spots, and one composition, in particular, is surging. Fans of the singer and rapper have rediscovered 'Headlines,' which jumps from No. 20 to No. 11 on the tally. As it soars, the cut reaches a new peak position on the genre-specific list. 'Headlines' Returns to the Charts a Decade Later 'Headlines' debuted on the Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles chart in August 2011. By that point, Drake was already a well-known figure in the hip-hop world, but he was still just beginning what would become one of the most successful music careers of all time. The single spent more than a dozen frames on the list between 2011 and 2012 before disappearing. It stayed away from the ranking for more than a decade, but last week, 'Headlines' returned at No. 20, and it now looks like it might soon break into the top 10. A Look Back at 'Headlines' and Take Care Drake released 'Headlines' in August 2011, almost exactly 14 years ago. The track was selected as the second official single from his sophomore album Take Care, which arrived a few months later. That project produced several huge hits, including 'Make Me Proud,' 'The Motto,' and the title track, and it helped show that he was one of the top new players in the space – one who could be counted on to produce multiple smashes per project. 'What Did I Miss?' and 'Nokia' Still Charting 'What Did I Miss?' drops from No. 4 to No. 6 in its third week on the Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles chart, landing just two spaces ahead of 'Nokia.' Older Drake cuts 'One Dance' with Wizkid and Kyla and his solo track 'Passionfruit' sit below 'Headlines' at Nos. 17 and 26, respectively.

Kelly Osbourne Returns To The Charts After Decades Away With Her Dad
Kelly Osbourne Returns To The Charts After Decades Away With Her Dad

Forbes

time5 minutes ago

  • Forbes

Kelly Osbourne Returns To The Charts After Decades Away With Her Dad

Following his death earlier this month, consumption of Ozzy Osbourne's catalog has surged. Both his solo work and Black Sabbath's albums and singles appear on dozens of rankings globally, and the two perform most spectacularly in the United Kingdom. A number of musicians who collaborated with the late rock star also hit various charts alongside the late superstar, including one who stands out as particularly meaningful: Kelly Osbourne, his daughter. Kelly enjoyed a short-lived music career that seemingly ended about 20 years ago. During her brief run, she teamed up with her father for a duet, one that has reentered the spotlight. 'Changes' Debuts on Several Charts "Changes," which is credited to both Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne, reaches several charts in the U.K. for the first time this week. The collaboration opens at No. 8 on both the Official Singles Sales and Official Singles Downloads lists, as the slow and emotional rendition of the Black Sabbath classic quickly became a focal point for fans consuming everything connected to the pioneering musician. Kelly Osbourne's First Top 10 Hit Kelly earns her first appearance on the list of the bestselling songs in the U.K. as "Changes" opens in eighth place. She also scores a second career win on the downloads-only tally, as her electronic-leaning cut "One Word" previously reached No. 17. After waiting two decades between hits, Kelly lands her debut top 10 this time around. A Reworking of Black Sabbath's Classic "Changes" was reworked from the Black Sabbath original to reflect the father and daughter's life experiences and released as a single in December 2003. The track was an immediate success in the U.K., bringing both artists to No. 1 on the Official Singles chart. The cut was so successful that Kelly's record label re-released her debut album Shut Up as Changes, adding several live recordings, as well as the title track.

If the BBC bows to YouTube, everyone loses
If the BBC bows to YouTube, everyone loses

Yahoo

time31 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

If the BBC bows to YouTube, everyone loses

YouTube is the biggest beast in the attentional infrastructure of modern media,' Amol Rajan, presenter of Radio 4's flagship Today programme, announced this week. Listeners around the country – the older ones, at least – must have been left perplexed. What is the 'attentional infrastructure'? And isn't YouTube just a website for sharing videos of kittens mewing or post-operative children high on trace sedatives? No. According to the media regulator Ofcom, YouTube is now the second-most watched service in the UK, ahead of ITV and behind only the BBC. Linear TV – the old tradition of live broadcast – has been staving off doom-mongers for the past decade but now stands on a precipice. Generations Z and Alpha (the youngest set of pre-teen media consumers) have already migrated overwhelmingly to streaming, whether via video sharing platforms (such as YouTube) or subscription video-on-demand services (such as Netflix). The former is now the premier TV destination among the fresh-faced four-to-15 demographic. As the Today programme showed, there will undoubtedly be some at New Broadcasting House and ITV HQ who are getting antsy about this digital coup d'état. But Ofcom's latest report is only the latest glance at a gradual, longstanding shift in the way that people view television. There have always been inflection points: the launches of ITV in 1955 and Channel 4 in 1982; the introduction of Sky in 1989 and digital terrestrial in 1998; Netflix's arrival in the UK in 2012. Since John Logie Baird's first TV broadcast in 1926, the technology has been (somewhat ironically) charting a linear trajectory away from linearity. And the diversifying of content providers has increasingly coincided with the arrival of more flexible viewing options. Ofcom has, however, stumbled upon something of a classification error. Comparing BBC One to YouTube is like comparing Penguin Classics to the British Library. YouTube has an estimated 2.7 billion active users, of whom a reported 65.3 million are 'creators', people who upload content to the site. The BBC, meanwhile, provides thousands of hours of content each year. Its 2025-26 Annual Plan announced 1,000 hours of drama programming on its linear TV channels, alongside 1,200 hours of comedy and 1,800 of documentary and factual programming – an amazing return for a single television station, but pales in comparison to the 20 million videos uploaded to YouTube every day. BBC One is a single point of light; YouTube is the full spectrum. The latest data will be read by some as a sign that traditional, longer-form broadcasting is dead: now, 60-second micro-videos are king. But outdated clichés – perpetuated in earlier paragraphs – belie YouTube's evolution. Videos up to 15 minutes (excluding their popular TikTok dupe, Shorts) remain the most popular length, but shorter-form content is declining in popularity. For adult watchers, YouTube's most popular areas were 'music' and 'how to' content, such as recipes and DIY. Just throw in a documentary about canal boats, and that's sounding a lot like BBC Four. The tricky thing for the BBC is working out which concessions are worth making as it seeks to maintain its place at the head of the industry. There might be fears that the Beeb will employ Amelia Dimoldenberg to host Newsnight from a Morley's, or bring in the musician and influencer KSI as a roving Autumnwatch correspondent. The reality is that there's a (slightly less terrifying) happy medium to be achieved here. YouTube launched in 2005 and it was only a couple of years later that Netflix – at the time a mail-order DVD service – announced that it would pivot to streaming video. Shortly after that, the BBC opened its proprietary streaming service, iPlayer, to beta testing. It might make you feel old, but iPlayer has been live now for 18 years and has become an essential part of the BBC's strategy. Streaming offers real accessibility gains – subtitling, audio description, dubbing – that had proven tricky before, and the uptake among older licence fee payers has been slow but steady. In 2024, iPlayer accounted for 22 per cent of BBC content views, in line with the 4 per cent year-on-year growth experienced since 2022. With audiences acclimatising to streaming, YouTube should be seen not only as a threat to the BBC but also as an opportunity. The BBC already has a huge presence on the platform: the main BBC YouTube channel has 15 million subscribers, while there are also much-followed subsidiary accounts, such as BBC News (18 million subscribers) and BBC Earth (14 million). The BBC is a major player on the platform internationally, with 21 million subscribers to BBC News Hindi and 12.5 million to BBC News Arabic. BBC Persian, BBC Uzbek and BBC Mundo (in Spanish) all have over a million subscribers. While core TV brands such as Doctor Who (2 million subscribers), Strictly Come Dancing (835,000) and Top Gear (9.36 million) maintain healthy communities. So, when YouTube does well, the BBC does well. For many broadcasters, this presents a tricky paradox. Success on YouTube can provide huge audiences and new commercial pathways (such as brand deals via digital agencies), but risks forsaking traditional advertisers and opportunities to sell subscriptions. For a publicly funded broadcaster like the BBC, the question is less vexed. ITV and Channel 4 have entered into a licensing agreement where YouTube publishes full programmes while they retain control over the advertising inventory. But all these traditional broadcasters have an obligation to meet their audience at the most likely point of contact: for younger people, that is now YouTube, just as it is still by switching on the gogglebox for anyone over the age of 35. And yet, the BBC and ITV should not get lost in the pursuit of younger viewers. Ofcom's report contained another piece of telling data: no demographic spends more cumulative time watching video at home than the over-75s. On average, over-75s spend 386 minutes per day watching video, compared to just 184 minutes among ages four to 15. And these screen-addled retirees are only spending a microscopic amount of time on YouTube; the most reliable fix to their addiction is live telly, which accounts for the biggest block of watched minutes (compared to video sharing, streaming or playback) for every age group over 45. British terrestrial TV is constantly being pushed towards modernity. The core question it faces is whether to pursue the demographics who are departing or ignoring its services, or to consolidate its position among devoted user groups. Increasing media plurality inevitably means increasing competition from the private sector. Where the BBC has fought that tide (such as the ill-fated BBC Sounds experiment, which attempted to create a closed ecosystem for audio content), its success has been limited. Just as the creation of YouTube catalysed the building of iPlayer – which is now an essential part of the BBC's multi-generational offering – so too will the natural changes to the landscape shape the corporation's future direction. With the BBC's charter up for renewal at the end of 2027, there will be enormous pressure to cut costs. The organisation's critics will be bolstered by headlines about the challenge from YouTube. But for long-term stability, terrestrial broadcasters shouldn't pick a losing battle with Big Tech. They need to instead focus on the continued delivery of elite programming, allowing the methods by which audiences find that content to evolve naturally. Adaptation is fine. But if what we're left with no longer resembles the BBC, we'll all be poorer for it.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store