Latest news with #LenaDunham
Newsweek
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Lena Dunham Stuns With Crucial Message for Gen Z: 'Voice of the Generation'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The twenties—a decade long criticized as a limbo land of self-discovery, existential confusion and emotional turbulence. But according to Lena Dunham, there's hope on the horizon for Gen Zers who feel like they're drowning in the pressure to have it all figured out. In a recent episode of the Girls Rewatch Podcast, Dunham shared a refreshingly optimistic take on aging that quickly resonated online. A clip from the podcast has since garnered 42,600 likes and over 313,900 views on TikTok. "Your 30s are better than your 20s. I think aging is like the coolest thing that can happen to you," Dunham told hosts Amelia Ritthaler and Evan Lazarus. The Too Much writer and producer—now 39—reflected on how far she's come since writing the Girls pilot 15 years ago. LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 23: Lena Dunham attends the U.K. special screening for Lena Dunham's "Too Much" at the Barbican Centre on June 23, 2025 in London, England. LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 23: Lena Dunham attends the U.K. special screening for Lena Dunham's "Too Much" at the Barbican Centre on June 23, 2025 in London, England."I wish I had better appreciated the level of energy and strength that your body is capable of at that moment," Dunham said. "Because I then have talked about the fact that I encountered health issues. Like, there's just a level of, like, joie de vivre to your 20s. "And what I was stuck in was the cycle of doing what I wanted and then feeling f****** terrible about it, when I could have done the exact same thing, enjoyed it, and there would have been zero different consequences." She compared "feeling terrible" about what she was doing to the analogy of a plane crashing, and that thinking about it not crashing, would not prevent it from happening. But Dunham's key takeaway was ultimately empowering: "It's okay to just enjoy. As long as you're not physically hurting people, operating in deep dishonesty, or like taking people's agency away from them, it's okay." Dunham is back in the spotlight with her return to television in the upcoming romantic comedy series Too Much, which follows a heartbroken protagonist—Jessica—who moves to London in search of healing and reinvention. The show marks a new chapter in her career, over a decade after she became a millennial household name with Girls, the groundbreaking HBO series released in 2012, which chronicled the chaos of four women navigating their twenties in New York City. Kamini Wood, a human potential coach and CEO of Live Joy Your Way, praised Dunham's message and spoke to Newsweek about why she thought it was impactful. The intensity of one's twenties is often driven by the pressure to figure out who you are outside the context of family, culture, or societal expectations, according to Wood. "It's a time period when decisions about career paths, relationships, and self-worth can feel so high-stakes," Wood told Newsweek. "There's often a fear that these choices are irreversible or that they define you forever, which creates a lot of emotional pressure." In that context, Dunham's call to "release guilt and embrace joy" is both radical and freeing. Wood agreed, saying: "True freedom comes when we stop performing for or chasing external validation." According to Wood, young women are rarely taught that. Instead, she says, they're conditioned to link their worth to how productive, beautiful, or morally "correct" they appear to others. Unrealistic beauty standards and rigid morality expectations only deepen this crisis of identity, she explains, making women judge their decisions based on what will be seen as acceptable or impressive, rather than what genuinely aligns with their own values. "Women today are hungry to step away from all those 'shoulds' and step toward genuine self-acceptance," she said. Social media users shared their appreciation for Dunham's eye-opening message. "Okay she lowkey is the voice of the generation," said one user. "That joie de vivre of the 20s is so f****** real. Is what I miss the most!" said another viewer. "You couldn't pay me to be 24 again'—Hannah's Gyno," said Millie quoting an iconic scene from Girls where the protagonist goes to get a sexual health check. "My mom says her 40s are her best years," said another user. "I miss the excitement I had about life and the future, but I now appreciate everyday and I think I'm prettier with a few wrinkles," said another user.
Vogue
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Vogue
What's It Really Like When Your Ex Dates an Influencer? These Women Lived It
It all ended the same way it began: on her phone. For Michelle, 28, knowing her long-term relationship was over—one that had started with a DM, spanned four years, and was turbulent in the way that made letting go feel impossible—came down to seeing him with someone else…in a video watched by over a million people. The moment she saw it—her ex, grinning beside a beauty influencer—she let out a guttural screech and vowed to delete Instagram altogether. But she didn't, of course. Instead, like the rest of us glued to our phones, she kept scrolling, watching their life together unfold as if they were right in front of her, silently saying, Look how well he's doing without you. She watched them cook meals side by side, rehashing how they met ('It was like fate! Like a movie!'). Instinctively, she knew she should stop—so did her therapist. But honestly, who behaves rationally upon seeing a recent ex with someone else? Especially when that someone else is tanned, beautiful, and regularly gifted Westman Atelier contour sticks? It's a question, Michelle tells Vogue, that at first she thought was 'distinctly her own.' But then she watched Too Much, the semi-autobiographical scripted show by Lena Dunham. The series's main character, Jessica (Megan Stalter), had been dating her live-in boyfriend, Zev (Michael Zegen), for seven years when he left her for Wendy, a devastatingly hot knitting influencer (Emily Ratajkowski, naturally). Even as Jessica moves on and falls in love again, Wendy remains an obsession, not least because her romance with Zev is exhaustively chronicled online. Holly, 42, also recognized her own story in Dunham's show. But her ex didn't leave her for an influencer, per se; instead, he trailed behind his new girlfriend on red carpets, his face occasionally appearing in checkout-line tabloids. She was a major celebrity—the kind of person even your mother would know. But Holly says that no matter who your ex ends up with after you—whether you're the only person who knows her name or she's a proper public figure—it's all the same sting. Holly's Zev was everything she was looking for when she was 30—successful, handsome, creative—and older: seven years her senior. He'd flown her out to the UK to meet his family and spent money on fancy dinners. Where her life felt fledging and disordered, his was, well, not. 'I was sort of like a grown-up teenager,' Holly tells me. 'I remember him saying, 'You need to grow up, you need to be autonomous. You need to have your own life outside of me.'' (A similar dynamic plays out between Jessica and Zev in Too Much: He tells her she needs to fix her anxious attachment style.)
ABC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Lena Dunham's Too Much with co-creator Luis Felber + Michael Shanks/Together + François Ozon/When Fall is Coming
British-Peruvian musician Luis Felber (Attawalpa) co-created the buzzy Netflix series Too Much with his wife Lena Dunham, a rom-com full of joy and complexity about a New Yorker looking for love in London. Australian filmmaker Michael Shanks on Together, his sticky body horror that made a mark at Sundance, starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie. French master François Ozon on his latest - When Fall is Coming - an ambiguous family murder-mystery set in Burgundy. CREDITS
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Natalie Portman's $1,150 Sneakers Prove Her Footwear Budget Knows No Bounds
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. 2025 is shaping up to be Lena Dunham's year. This year, the writer-director released Too Much, a new Netflix series that follows ad producer Jessica "Jess" Salmon on a post-breakup move to London. Then there's Good Sex, Dunham's forthcoming Netflix film, which is currently shooting in New York City. Both projects are delivering a healthy dose of style inspo—Too Much with funky feminine outfits, and easy-to-copy street style on the Good Sex set. Natalie Portman stars in the latter rom-com as Ally, a pragmatic couples' therapist fresh out of a decade-long relationship. Much like Dakota Johnson's Lucy in Materialists, Ally's closet reflects her career path. Blazers, button-downs, and city-proof flats present a polished front, but knowing the Dunham method, there's more complexity to her life (and style) than meets the eye. On July 15, the leading lady swapped her character's chic costumes for her signature off-camera uniform: jeans and sneakers. Portman paired a cropped white tee with ultra-wide-leg bottoms in a '90s-inspired light wash—three shades brighter than her usual indigo denim. $1,150 dad-ish sneakers, courtesy of Dior, peeked out from underneath the Black Swan star's elongated hems. At this point, the brand ambassador must reserve a closet just for the French atelier. Every time she steps out, she sports a new Dior tag. Her newest find? The C'est Dior Sneaker. Called a "bold and modern creation" by the brand, the calfskin sneakers are mainly ivory with a lightweight black sole. Each sidewall spotlighted three-dimensional "C" and "D" rubber letters, a Christian Dior calling card. Similarly, the monochrome tongues were stamped with the label's logo. Portman's Dior trainers prove the chunky sneaker trend is staying strong through flip-flops season. Every sneakerhead, from Johnson and Jennifer Lopez to Naomi Campbell and Kaia Gerber, have swapped slim silhouettes for bulky shoes straight out of a dad's closet in the '90s. Portman's sneakers, however, might be the most expensive take to surface. View Deal Portman's character, Ally, seems to prefer Mary Janes and leather loafers. Off-screen, the Oscar winner will never skip sneakers. She also owns the Chrono Sneaker, another equally-pricey pair from Dior, which retails for $1,190. The black-and-white Chronos are slightly more striking compared to her C'ests, without nixing the "CD" emblem on each sidewall. The upper's two-tone theme continues onto its heightened platform soles. View Deal Take it from Portman: Dior's sneakers are not to be ignored. Albeit with a few more zeros at the end, they're just as en vogue as best-sellers from Nike or Adidas. Shop Sneakers Inspired by Natalie Portman View Deal View Deal View Deal View Deal View Deal View Deal View Deal
Digital Trends
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
10 best new Netflix shows to watch this summer
Although Netflix came to prominence in large part because it had an archive of preexisting shows that you wanted to watch, the streaming service has spent years ensuring that its original library is robust. If you're looking for something new on Netflix, you've got plenty of options. To celebrate the year that the streamer has already had, we picked the 10 best new shows (meaning they started in 2025) that you can watch on the streaming service this summer. Check them out below: The Hunting Wives (2025-) Pulpy, fun, and the perfect binge-watch for the laziest days of summer, The Hunting Wives tells the story of a big-city woman who moves to rural Texas and finds herself falling under the influence of a wealthy socialite. Recommended Videos As she learns more about the world in which her friend operates, she begins to realize that these wealthy women are all hiding secrets from one another. Starring Brittany Snow and Malin Ackerman, The Hunting Wives is not all that serious, which is partly why the show is a good time. You can watch The Hunting Wives on Netflix. Too Much (2025-) Lena Dunham's long-awaited follow-up to Girls, Too Much is just as smart and incisive as that show, and no less funny. Although this show doesn't star Dunham, it very much feels like a pseudo-sequel to Girls. The series follows a New York City workaholic who moves to London to take a job and live in isolation. When she finds herself bewitched by an unproblematic man, she dives deeper and deeper into a relationship that can only end badly. Too Much might be too much for some, but for most, it's a sharp, witty comedy about people who can't get out of their own way. You can watch Too Much on Netflix. Sakamoto Days (2025-) Adapted from a manga of the same name, Sakamoto Days is a brilliant new anime series about a hitman who makes the choice to retire for love, only to find that he can't leave his past as far behind as he might have hoped. The contrast between the central character's quiet family life and the things he has to do to maintain it gives Sakamoto Days much of its juice, but the show's pacing is excellent. Its willingness to shift from mundane to thrillingly violent in an instant is guaranteed to keep you on your toes. You can watch Sakamoto Days on Netflix. Adolescence (2025) Adolescence was a major hit for Netflix, but if you haven't caught this four-part miniseries yet, it's certainly worth your time. The show follows the aftermath of a teenage boy's arrest for the murder of one of his classmates. Across the four episodes, we learn more about the kid, his school, his family, and the detectives investigating the crime. Although it can be a harrowing watch for anyone trying to raise kids in the world we're living in, Adolescence is also a show that dares to ask questions without easy answers and leaves you to sit with every unsettling detail. You can watch Adolescence on Netflix. Dept. Q (2025-) Anchored by a brilliant central performance from Matthew Goode, Dept. Q is one of the most heralded new series that Netflix has released this year. The show follows a detective who is coming back to work following an incident that paralyzed his partner and killed another cop. Wracked by guilt, he's tasked with solving a cold case that slowly envelopes his entire life. While the idea of obsession in detective work is not exactly new, Goode breathes new life into his character. While Dept. Q can be dark, that doesn't mean it's particularly hard to watch. You can watch Dept. Q on Netflix. Everybody's Live with John Mulaney (2025-) Netflix has largely avoided making its own version of a late-night talk show until Everybody's Live with John Mulaney. The series, while technically a late-night show, is much weirder than what you might expect from network alternatives. Mulaney is willing to experiment and willing to make his audience and his guests a little bit uncomfortable in the process. The show is wildly funny, but part of the joy of watching is the show's unpredictability, even if that means that not every moment or bit is perfect. You can watch Everybody's Live with John Mulaney on Netflix. Sirens (2025-) Another soapy, insanely fun show to make its debut on Netflix this year, Sirens follows two sisters who have taken wildly divergent paths through life as they reunite. When one discovers that the other has become the personal assistant of a hugely wealthy and slightly deranged woman, she begins to suspect that their relationship is not a healthy one. Anchored by a trio of great performances from Megahnn Fahey, Milly Alcock, and Julianne Moore, Sirens features some beautiful sets and locations and also manages to be a fairly sharp satire of a particular kind of wealthy person. You can watch Sirens on Netflix. Forever (2025-) Sometimes all you need in a compelling TV show is two young actors with remarkable chemistry. Forever has a relatively simple premise. It follows two former childhood friends who reunite as teenagers and fall heartbreakingly, desperately in love with one another. As they realize that being in love is not enough to make their lives any easier, they deal with all the heartache and yearning that comes with any first love. Forever would be nothing without its central performers, Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr., who make every scene they share sing. You can watch Forever on Netflix. The Residence (2025-) Uzo Aduba has been making her bones on Netflix since the streamer first launched original comedies, and with The Residence, she finally gets the chance to lead her own show. In the series, she plays an eccentric detective called to the White House to solve a murder that occurred at a state dinner. Although the show could be too political, The Residence manages to keep a rather light tone. It's a careful and impressive balancing act. You can watch The Residence on Netflix. Apple Cider Vinegar (2025-) Based on a strange, frightening true story, Apple Cider Vinegar tells the story of two women who, in parallel, begin selling their millions of followers on alternative medicine, even as they begin to realize that what they're selling doesn't work the way they say it does. Anchored by another brilliant performance from Kaitlyn Dever, Apple Cider Vinegar is an unsettling story about the very idea of wellness and why so many people are looking for alternative remedies. You can watch Apple Cider Vinegar on Netflix.
