Lena Dunham drops out of ‘Polly Pocket’ movie, won’t star in Netflix show so her body isn’t ‘dissected again’
Lena Dunham is putting her mental health first.
The “Girls” creator, 38, told The New Yorker that her semi-autobiographical Netflix series, “Too Much,” is currently in post-production — but fans shouldn’t expect to see her on the screen.
Dunham decided it was best to cast Megan Stalter over herself for the lead role due to backlash from body shamers in years past.
“I was not willing to have another experience like what I’d experienced around ‘Girls’ at this point in my life,” she said in the interview published Tuesday. “Physically, I was just not up for having my body dissected again.”
Although casting Stalter was an easy choice, Dunham said it was “hard” to “admit” the real reason why she didn’t feel comfortable taking on the role herself.
“I used to think that winning meant you just keep doing it and you don’t care what anybody thinks,” she explained. “I forgot that winning is actually just protecting yourself and doing what you need to do to keep making work.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Dunham discussed how society has taken a hit when it comes to body positivity in recent years — partly due to the “new class of Ozempic-thin women.”
“It seems like we had this moment of body positivity, and then every single day it’s like we’re looking around and it’s like our masses are decreasing,” she said.
“Too Much” is about a thirtysomething woman who leaves New York City after a breakup and moves to London, where she falls in love with a musician — similar to her own love story with husband Luis Felber.
The rom-com — which is set to premiere next year — features ��White Lotus” actor Will Sharpe, “Girls” alum Andrew Rannells, Emily Ratajkowski and more.
After over a decade in the industry, the Emmy-nominated actress has learned the importance of picking and choosing her projects — which is why she is also no longer part of Mattel’s “Polly Pocket” movie.
In 2021, it was announced that Dunham would be writing and directing the Lily Collins-lead film following the toy company’s success with “Barbie.”
However, the “Sharp Stick” producer recently dropped out after working on the script for three years.
“I think Greta [Gerwig] managed this incredible feat [with ‘Barbie’], which was to make this thing that was literally candy to so many different kinds of people and was perfectly and divinely Greta,” Dunham explained.
“And I just — I felt like, unless I can do it that way, I’m not going to do it. I don’t think I have that in me. I feel like the next movie I make needs to feel like a movie that I absolutely have to make. No one but me could make it. And I did think other people could make ‘Polly Pocket.’”
As for her next project, Dunham said she wants to tackle something “that’s distinctly commercial but also maintains the DNA of what is interesting” to her — which she admits is likely another “romantic comedy.”
