Lena Dunham: Being perceived was overwhelming
Lena Dunham struggled to cope with the pressures of fame and success during her younger years.
Lena Dunham found the pressures of fame to be "overwhelming".
The 39-year-old actress shot to international stardom as the creator and star of Girls, her hit HBO series that aired between 2012 and 2017, and Lena admits that body shaming influenced her decision to step behind the camera.
Lena told the BBC: "Just being perceived was overwhelming."
The actress has developed a new love and appreciation of her body in recent years.
She said: "I've been able to have a relationship with my body that exists outside of the cultural pressures and I feel lucky for that."
Lena also believes she's matured a lot over the last decade.
The actress has often been outspoken on social media and in interviews, and Lena now admits to making a lot of mistakes during her 20s.
She said: "We all have to acknowledge our own complexities and sensitivities but it's hard to wrap your head around that when you're in your 20s."
Lena recently revealed that she chose to "step back" from acting because she was tired of having her appearance "dissected".
The TV star admitted that she faced less scrutiny after she stopped appearing on-screen.
She told The Independent: "Having my body dissected was a reason that I chose in general to step back from acting a little bit more and focus on my writing and my directing, and also just make different kinds of choices as an actor."
Lena's new TV show, Too Much, actually explores a lot of the issues that she's encountered in her own life.
The actress said: "It’s about your appetite for food, your appetite for life, your wants, your needs, your desires, and it comes in lots of forms, whether you’re told you’re ‘too much’ or ‘messy’ or ‘needy’ or ‘a lot’. What’s ironic is that calling someone ‘too much’ is a really easy way to diminish them."
Lena has already enjoyed lots of success in her career, but she struggled to enjoy the good times during her younger years.
She explained: "For all the Girls premieres I was in my twenties, so I was terrified and anxious. So just being able to actually enjoy it this time and be present was really nice."
