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.

Filmography

• 2026Choked — Executive Producer
• 2026House of Criticism
• It Gets Worse
• 2026Notice Me — Producer
• 2025I Wish You All the Best — Ms. Lyons
• Too Much — Nora South, Executive Producer, Director, Writer, Creator
• 2024Treasure — Ruth, Executive Producer
• 2022Catherine Called Birdy — Executive Producer, Director, Screenplay
• 2022Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste — Executive Producer
• 2022Sharp Stick — Heather, Screenplay, Director, Producer
• Genera+ion — Executive Producer, Writer
• 2021Honeydew — Delilah
• 2021Music — Administrator on Phone with Zu (voice)
• Industry — Director, Executive Producer
• 2020Memory Xperiment: Kathy Acker — Thanks
• 2020The Stand In — Lisa
• 2020Who Will You Be? — Director
• 2019Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood — 'Gypsy'
• Camping — Executive Producer, Writer, Creator
• 2017100 Years — Narrator (voice), Producer, Director
• 2017Tokyo Project — Executive Producer
• 2016My Art — Meryl
• 2016My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea — Mary (voice)
• 2016Sky — Billie
• 2016Suited — Producer
• 20157 Days in Hell — Lanny Denver
• Thank You and Sorry
• 2014Cover Girl — Self, Writer
• 2014Happy Christmas — Carson
• 2014The One I Love — Thanks
• 2013Best Friends — Director, Writer
• 2013Choose You — Writer
• 2013Supporting Characters — Alexa
• Finding Your Roots
• Girls — Hannah Horvath, Executive Producer, Writer, Director, Creator
• 2012Nobody Walks — Writer
• Scandal — Susanne Thomas
• 2012The Hostess With the Leastest — Director
• 2012The Innkeepers — Barista
• 2012This Is 40 — Cat
• American Horror Story — Valerie Solanas
• Mildred Pierce — Nurse 1
• 2010Gabi on the Roof in July — Colby
• 2010Tiny Furniture — Aura, Director, Writer
• 2009Creative Nonfiction — Ella, Writer, Director
• 2009Family Tree
• 2009The House of the Devil — 911 Operator (voice)
• 2009The Viewer — The Voice
• 2008The Pleasure of Being Robbed — Thanks
• 2007Dealing — Georgia, Director
• 2007Hooker on Campus — Hooker, Director, Editor
• 2007Open the Door — Director, Writer
• 2007The Fountain — Director
• 2006Pressure — Director, Writer
• The Colbert Report
• The Simpsons — Candace (voice)
• Going Infinite — Writer
• Good Sex — Director, Writer, Producer
• Still We Met — Executive Producer

Appearances as themselves (33)

• 2025Gavin & Stacey: A Fond Farewell — Self
• Good Hang with Amy Poehler — Self - Guest
• 2023Judy Blume Forever — Self
• 2020Miranda July: Where it Began — Herself
• Visible: Out on Television — Self
• A Little Late with Lilly Singh — Self
• The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self
• 2019This Changes Everything — Self
• 2018Half the Picture — Self
• 2017A Goodbye to Girls — Self
• 2016Don't Think Twice — Self
• 2016Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You — Self
• Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter — Self
• 2015Everything Is Copy — Self
• 2015It's Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise — Self
• 2015Taylor Swift: The 1989 World Tour - Live — Self - Special Guest
• The Late Late Show with James Corden — Self, Self - Guest
• Travel Man: 48 Hours in... — Self - Guest
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self, Self - Guest
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Self
• 2014This Is Comedy — Herself
• 2012Side by Side — Self
• Billy on the Street — Self
• 2011PressPausePlay — Self
• Conan — Self
• RuPaul's Drag Race — Self - Guest Judge
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
• The Graham Norton Show — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self, Self - Mean Tweets
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show — Self
• The View — Self
• The Daily Show — Self
• Saturday Night Live — Self - Host