Lena Dunham

Directing

Born: May 13, 1986 (age 40) · New York, New York, USA

Lena Dunham (/ˈliːnə ˈdʌnəm/; born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series Girls (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe Awards. Dunham also directed several episodes of Girls and became the first woman to win the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series. She started her career writing, directing, and starring in her semi-autobiographical independent film Tiny Furniture (2010), for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. She has since written and directed the 2022 films Sharp Stick and Catherine Called Birdy.

In 2013, Dunham was included in the annual Time100 list of the most influential people in the world. In 2014, Dunham released her first book, Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned". In 2015, along with Girls showrunner Jenni Konner, Dunham created the publication Lenny Letter, a feminist online newsletter. The publication ran for three years before its discontinuation in late 2018. In 2026, she released her second book Famesick, which is described as a deeply personal memoir tracking Dunham's rise to fame, health struggles, and the costs of ambition.

Dunham briefly appeared in films such as Supporting Characters, This Is 40 (2012), and Happy Christmas (2014). She voiced Mary in the 2016 film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Aside from Girls, she has played guest roles on television in Scandal and The Simpsons (both 2015). In 2017, she portrayed Valerie Solanas in American Horror Story: Cult.

In 2025, her Netflix show Too Much starring Meg Stalter was released, which she co-created with husband Luis Felber. In September 2026 she welcomed a daughter via surrogacy with her husband. In October 2026 Dunham announced the return of the series Girls through a mock Zoom video call alongside original cast members Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet, and Andrew Rannells.

Dunham's work and her outspoken presence on social media and in interviews have attracted significant controversy, praise, criticism, and media scrutiny throughout her career.