2012 was a different time. Barack Obama was the U.S. President, “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen and “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye (featuring Kimbra) topped the Billboard charts, and “Gangnam Style” was, like, a thing. Also, “Girls,” the comedy series created and helmed by writer, director, and actor Lena Dunham, stared airing on HBO and inspired literal decades of discourse.
Dunham is returning to the small screen with Netflix’s new original series “Too Much,” which premieres on July 10 — and in a feature in Variety, she admitted that she would consider a revival of “Girls” (sort of like the “Sex and the City” reboot “…And Just Like That,” except hopefully a “Girls” reboot would be good). It would be tricky, though.
“If we had something to say that was really specific and it was a moment in their lives where we felt like revisiting it — like millennial women becoming mothers or stepping into menopause or going to live at old-age homes — I would always want to work with those people again,” Dunham explained. This makes sense, because “Girls” featured an incredible ensemble, all of whom played now-beloved characters … and Dunham did take some time to weigh in on their fates, as she imagined them in real time.
“Shoshanna was married to, then divorced from, the mayor of New York City, and she runs an athleisure startup that’s zero-waste,” Dunham said of Zosia Mamet’s high-strung Shoshanna Shapiro. So, what about Marnie Michaels (Allison Williams), the eminently meme-able type-A singer whose rendition of “Stronger” still haunts fans of the show? “Marnie — it’s third marriage,” Dunham mused. “She still sings, but I think Marnie really needs to take it to sex and love addicts anonymous.”
As for Jemima Kirke’s frankly obnoxious free spirit Jessa Johansson, Dunham was quite clear: “Jessa is unvaccinated and lives on a boat in Croatia.” So, what about the men on the series — specifically, Adam Sackler (Adam Driver), Ray Ploshansky (Alex Karpovsky), and Elijah Krantz (Andrew Rannells)? According to Dunham:
“Adam is a cult theater actor, and he’s probably living in Berlin, and Ray is still on city council and running his coffee shop and doing better than anyone. Elijah is the fourth lead on a sitcom, making a good amount of money and still looking for love in all the wrong places.”
Hilariously, Dunham saved her own character, Hannah Horvath, for last. “Oh my God, I forgot about her!” Dunham exclaimed. “She teaches at Bard [College] and loves raising her son. She probably has a girlfriend who’s, like, a chef. And she’s less obsessed with being famous. That is where I feel that she would land.”