Lena Dunham

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. 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. 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Lena Dunham, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Works

The Simpsons

Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a virtual cast of thousands. Since the beginning, the series has been a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. The show has also made name for itself in its fearless satirical take on politics, media and American life in general.

Release Date1989-12-17

Charactersd Candace (voice)

Episode Count1

Vote Count10247

American Horror Story

An anthology horror drama series centering on different characters and locations, including a house with a murderous past, an asylum, a witch coven, a freak show, a hotel, a farmhouse in Roanoke, a cult, the apocalypse and a summer camp.

Release Date2011-10-05

Charactersd Valerie Solanas

Episode Count1

Vote Count5783

Girls

The assorted humiliations, disasters and rare triumphs of four very different twenty-something girls: Hannah, an aspiring writer; Marnie, an art gallery assistant and cousins Jessa and Shoshanna.

Release Date2012-04-15

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Charactersd Hannah Horvath

Episode Count62

Vote Count397

Scandal

Everyone has secrets and Olivia Pope has dedicated her life to protecting and defending the public images of the elite by keeping those secrets under wraps. Pope and her team are at the top of their game when it comes to getting the job done for their clients, but it becomes apparent that these "gladiators in suits," who specialize in fixing the lives of other people, have trouble fixing those closest at hand -- their own.

Release Date2012-04-05

Charactersd Susanne Thomas

Episode Count1

Vote Count562

Mildred Pierce

Mildred Pierce depicts an overprotective, self-sacrificing mother during the Great Depression who finds herself separated from her husband, opening a restaurant of her own and falling in love with a man, all the while trying to earn her spoiled, narcissistic daughter's love and respect.

Release Date2011-03-27

Charactersd Nurse 1

Episode Count2

Vote Count237

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton, a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth, his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the neighbor of the young and promising actress and model Sharon Tate, who has just married the prestigious Polish director Roman Polanski…

Release Date2019-07-24

Charactersd 'Gypsy'

Vote Count13963

This Is 40

Pete and Debbie are both about to turn 40, their kids hate each other, both of their businesses are failing, they're on the verge of losing their house, and their relationship is threatening to fall apart.

Release Date2012-12-20

Charactersd Cat

Vote Count2213

Sharp Stick

Sarah Jo is a naive 26-year-old living on the fringes of Hollywood with her mother and sister. When she begins an affair with her older employer, she is thrust into an education on sexuality, loss and power.

Release Date2022-07-29

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Charactersd Heather

Vote Count42

The House of the Devil

A young college student who’s struggling financially takes a strange babysitting job which coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret, putting her life in mortal danger.

Release Date2009-10-30

Charactersd 911 Operator (voice)

Vote Count782

Treasure

A music journalist accompanies her father, a charmingly stubborn Holocaust survivor, on a journey to his homeland. While she's eager to make sense of her family's past, her dad has an agenda of his own.

Release Date2024-06-13

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Charactersd Ruth

Vote Count37

The Innkeepers

During the final days at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, two employees determined to reveal the hotel's haunted past begin to experience disturbing events as old guests check in for a stay.

Release Date2011-08-18

Charactersd Barista

Vote Count667

The Stand In

When ordered to serve a year in rehab, actress Candy hires her on-set stand-in to take her place. The unassuming woman flips the script and steals her identity, career and boyfriend in this hilarious comedy about trading places.

Release Date2020-12-03

Charactersd Lisa

Vote Count114

Music

Zu, a free spirit estranged from her family, suddenly finds herself the sole guardian of her half-sister, Music, a teenager on the autism spectrum whose whole world order has been beautifully crafted by her late grandmother. The film soon challenges whether it is Zu or Music who has a better view of the world, and that love, trust, and being able to be there for each other is everything.

Release Date2021-01-14

Charactersd Administrator on Phone with Zu (voice)

Vote Count151

7 Days in Hell

A fictional documentary-style expose on the rivalry between two tennis stars who battled it out in a 1999 match that lasted seven days.

Release Date2015-07-08

Charactersd Lanny Denver

Vote Count398

Happy Christmas

After a breakup with her boyfriend, a young woman moves in with her older brother, his wife, and their 2-year-old son.

Release Date2014-07-25

Charactersd Carson

Vote Count162

Tiny Furniture

After graduating from film school, Aura returns to New York to live with her photographer mother, Siri, and her sister, Nadine, who has just finished high school. Aura is directionless and wonders where to go next in her career and her life. She takes a job in a restaurant and tries unsuccessfully to develop relationships with men, including Keith, a chef where she works, and cult Internet star Jed.

Release Date2010-11-12

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Charactersd Aura

Vote Count162

Sky

A woman embarks on a journey alone across the United States after fleeing from her violent husband.

Release Date2015-09-16

Charactersd Billie

Vote Count94

My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea

Dash and his best friend Assaf are preparing for another year at Tides High School muckraking on behalf of their widely-distributed but little-read school newspaper, edited by their friend Verti. But just when a blossoming relationship between Assaf and Verti threatens to destroy the boys' friendship, Dash learns of a cover-up by the administration that puts the entire student body in danger.

Release Date2016-09-11

Charactersd Mary (voice)

Vote Count37

Honeydew

Strange cravings and hallucinations befall a young couple after seeking shelter in the home of an aging farmer and her peculiar son.

Release Date2021-03-12

Charactersd Delilah

Vote Count63

100 Years

An animated history of American health care provider, Planned Parenthood.

Release Date2017-01-17

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Charactersd Narrator (voice)

Vote Count7

My Art

A 65-year-old single artist living in New York City has a good life: a stable teaching job, successful friends, and a loyal, aging dog named Bing. As her dream of a respectable place in the art world becomes more elusive, her frustration with her lack of recognition feels alarmingly urgent.

Release Date2016-09-05

Charactersd Meryl

Vote Count6

Supporting Characters

Two New York film editors balance their personal relationships while reworking a movie in crisis.

Release Date2012-01-23

Charactersd Alexa

Vote Count23

The Viewer

A 3D "telepathic interrogation" told from the perspective of a murder suspect.

Release Date2009-04-29

Charactersd The Voice

Vote Count3

Gabi on the Roof in July

An ambitious painter on the verge of a big break confronts his moral decay when his idealist, hell-raising, younger sister comes to stay with him in New York City for the summer.

Release Date2010-02-27

Charactersd Colby

Vote Count13

It's Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise

This portrait of Hilary Knight, the artist behind the iconic Eloise books, sees him reflecting on his life as an illustrator and his relationship to his most successful work.

Release Date2015-01-24

Charactersd Herself

Vote Count10

Creative Nonfiction

College student Ella is completely focused on her ambiguously romantic relationship with her dorm-mate, Chris. She is so consumed by trying to understand his behavior that she's neglecting the screenplay she is supposed to write in order to graduate. When she does sit down to work on the script, her increasingly awkward social life bleeds onto the page and her work begins to express her true feelings about her own situation.

Release Date2009-02-18

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Charactersd Ella

Vote Count10

The Fountain

A filmmaker makes a film about a young woman who baths in a public fountain, casting herself in the role.

Release Date2007-01-01

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Charactersd

Vote Count2

This Is Comedy

A documentary about the comedy director and producer Judd Apatow.

Release Date2014-04-18

Charactersd Herself

Dealing

Lena Dunham directed short.

Release Date2007-01-18

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Charactersd Georgia

Pressure

A young woman listens to two friends discussing their first orgasms, before telling of her childhood love of sneezing.

Release Date2006-01-01

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Charactersd

Open the Door

Practically a home movie, Lena (Dunham) asks her parents to say specific lines for a film she's shooting while they request to be let in her apartment.

Release Date2007-01-01

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Charactersd

Vote Count3

Miranda July: Where it Began

In this documentary, produced in 2019, director Miranda July and filmmaker Lena Dunham explore July’s beginnings, including her early work as a performer, the creation of her Joanie 4 Jackie project, and the development and production of her first feature film, ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW.

Release Date2020-04-28

Charactersd Herself

Hooker on Campus

A prostitute plies her wares on a college campus.

British comedian Richard Ayoade (later taken over by Joe Lycett), accompanied by a celebrity guest, takes a ruthlessly efficient approach to travel, covering everything top tourist destinations have to offer in just 48 hours.

A featurette celebrating six seasons of "Girls."

Release Date2017-04-10

Charactersd Self

PressPausePlay

The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent of people in an unprecedented way, unleashing unlimited creative opportunites. But does democratized culture mean better art, film, music and literature or is true talent instead flooded and drowned in the vast digital ocean of mass culture? Is it cultural democracy or mediocrity? This is the question addressed by PressPausePlay, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world’s most influential creators of the digital era.

Release Date2011-03-01

Charactersd Self

Vote Count28

Industry

In the cutthroat world of international finance, a group of young graduates compete for a limited set of permanent positions at a top investment bank in London. The boundaries between colleague, friend, lover, and enemy soon blur as they immerse themselves in a company culture defined as much by sex, drugs and ego as it is by deals and dividends.

Release Date2020-11-09

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count1

Vote Count205

A teenage girl in Medieval England navigates life and tries to avoid the arranged marriages her father maps out for her.

Release Date2022-09-23

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Vote Count130

Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste

A sexual wellness company gains fame and followers, then members come forward with shocking allegations.

Release Date2022-11-05

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Vote Count69

The One I Love

Ethan and Sophie are a married couple on the brink of separation when, at the urging of their therapist, they decide to salvage their relationship by escaping to a beautiful vacation house for the weekend.

Release Date2014-08-08

DepartmentCrew

JobThanks

Vote Count718

Nobody Walks

A young woman's arrival sparks a surge of energy into a laid-back, artistic Los Angeles household, forcing the residents to confront their own fears and desires in an intricate dance of lust, denial and deception.

Release Date2012-10-19

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count73

Good Sex

After spending a decade in a failed relationship, successful couples’ therapist Ally is turning 40 and is pushed, kicking and screaming, by her best friend back into the hopeless New York dating scene. But Ally finds her life pulled in opposing directions as she falls into a steamy fling with a 20-something Brooklyn hipster just as she begins a promising, more conventional relationship with Alan, a successful 50-something in Manhattan.

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Suited

Going deeper than fine fabrics and silk linings, Suited takes a modern, evolved look at gender through the conduit of clothing and elucidates the private and emotional experience surrounding it. With heart and optimism, the film documents a cultural shift that is creating a new demand—and response—for each person’s right to go out into the world with confidence.

Release Date2016-01-25

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count13

Choose You

This is what it looks like when Lena Dunham, Spike Jonze, Avicii, Vanessa Hudgens and Michael Shannon get together. Dunham wrote a short film for Sunday night's YouTube Music Awards about a heartbroken guy (Nick Lashaway) whose ex-girlfriend (Hudgens) is hooking up with a daft DJ (Shannon). Things start to look up for the protagonist when he meets an impetuous young woman (Dree Hemingway), but the pleasure is only fleeting thanks to the film's finale, which was chosen by the viewing audience: "a double tragedy" in the vein of "Romeo & Juliet" set to the beat of Avicii's "Wake Me Up" and played for laughs.

Release Date2013-11-03

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count8

Tokyo Project

On a business trip to Tokyo, Sebastian explores the city with a mysterious woman he keeps running into wherever he goes, discovering heartbreakingly that the truth, and the past, are as elusive as love.

Release Date2017-04-22

DepartmentProduction

JobExecutive Producer

Vote Count36

Memory Xperiment: Kathy Acker

A short film based on the literary work of author Kathy Acker. Set in the 60's and 70's, a young female writer explores her identity through sex and writing.

Release Date2020-07-14

DepartmentCrew

JobThanks

Vote Count4

Best Friends

In this short, a voice-over by Adam Driver explains how best-friendship works.

Release Date2013-04-11

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count3

The Hostess With the Leastest

Lena Dunham directed short film.

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Jack Antonoff tours with his band, Bleachers, and along with the tour schedule, he deals with problems at home - including hiring a new manager and pleasing his girlfriend back in New York. Through documentary and comedy, we get a glimpse into the life of Jack Antonoff and come to understand why he is constantly both thankful and sorry.

Release Date2015-06-16

Episode Count6

Vote Count1

I Wish You All the Best

A non-binary teen is kicked out of their North Carolina home after coming out to their ultra-religious parents. As a result, they move in with their estranged sister and her husband. Though the two are welcoming, they continue to struggle with anxiety further exacerbated by their parents' rejection. As such, they try to keep a low profile at school. However, after they meet a proudly bisexual classmate, their life begins to look a little more hopeful.

Release Date2025-11-07

Family Tree

Siblings Tim and Lena squabble after he detects her disinterest in his long-term family genealogy project.

Release Date2009-10-13