Lena Dunham Sees a Way to Reboot ‘Girls’ — but Not Yet

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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These “Girls” have certainly grown up. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Emmy winner Lena Dunham hinted at the possibility of a “Girls” reboot on HBO Max, much like its inspiration, “Sex and the City.”

“I look back, and just, like, the sheer gall of me, stepping onto set that first day; 24-year-old me standing in Silver Cup Studios, the old ‘Sex and the City’ studios, going, ‘Let’s do this,'” Dunham explained, citing that the “SATC” revival series “And Just Like That” may lead the way for returning to “Girls.”

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“It was such a pleasure to see those women back together and to see them take on middle-age sexuality,” Dunham noted. “For me, those are women who can do no wrong.”

However, the timing for a new “Girls” series is what’s tricky. “We all recognize it’s not time yet. I want it to be at a moment when the characters’ lives have really changed,” Dunham added. “Right now, everyone would just be wanting to see Kylo Ren [Adam Driver].”

HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys applauded Dunham’s “ability to connect the personal with the universal” but confirmed that there is not a “Girls” reboot in the works… yet. But THR reports Dunham “has engaged in informal talks with HBO about getting the gang back together for an older and wiser version of the quintessential millennial series.”

“As proud of the show as we are, there aren’t any plans to bring ‘Girls’ back. It’s great to know new viewers will continue to discover the [original] series,” Bloys said.

Dunham, whose film “Sharp Stick” premieres virtually at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, does have a few regrets about her rise to fame via breakout hit series “Girls.”

“Girls” - Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO
“Girls” - Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO

Craig Blankenhorn/HBO

“It’s almost like I took the few nights of my life that I went wild — got wasted, threw up — and expanded them into six years,” Dunham said of her “messy lunatic” alter ego, Hannah Horvath. “I was young, and I had huge blind spots. I was definitely much more of a millennial documenter than I was present in my millennial life.”

“Sharp Stick” is Dunham’s second directorial feature film, 11 years after her debut “Tiny Furniture.”

“This story is incredibly personal to me and a continuation of my career-long mission to create a free dialogue around the complexities of female sexuality and to turn the idea of the ‘likable’ female protagonist on its head, and you can’t do that in this business on any scale larger than your mother’s living room without forward thinking partners,” Dunham said in a statement to Variety. “I feel very lucky.”

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