HBO’s Girls returns tonight and we were at their recent TCA 2014 presentation in which they shared a bit about Season 3, the very real feel to the series, and changes for some of the characters.
Lena Dunham addressed the authenticity of the characters and her affection for them. “I love them, and I think that they accurately reflect people I know, people we’ve all been. I think that they are trying their hardest, which is sort of the most you can ask of the people in your life, and I feel sad when they struggle, and I feel happy when they triumph. And I’m excited about the unique ways that they fail and succeed. ”
Judd Apatow added his thoughts on why Girls is such a compelling series: “I think there’s a normal human compassion for people’s struggle to get through the day, get through life, get their shit together. You root for them to figure it out, but they make a lot of mistakes along the way, just like anybody we know in life.
Dunham commented on the double standard in film and TV with men being able to easily play unlikable characters while women are often heavily criticized, and how Girls showcases the not so pretty side: “I think there’s been a lot of license for men to act a lot of really ugly ways in film, in television, and I feel so lucky that we are not held to any standard of sort of sweet, female decency. We get to depict these girls in all of their flawed glory.”
When asked how aware they are of viewer / fan feedback, Jenni Konner remarked: “We really make this show in a vacuum because Lena has 4000 jobs. We spend a year making the show and editing it and writing it. So actually, by the time everything is out there, we are usually back shooting. So we live in a little bit of a bubble … it’s pretty insular.”
When asked what character that they thought would grow and change the most in the series, Konner shared that she thinks it would be Ray. “I think that he kind of transforms in a way.” She also added, “I think that love opens up Adam, but I also think we took the time this season to really spend some good time with Adam and some good time with Ray, and think … you understand them better when you know more about them.”
Allison Williams ended the session by telling us a bit about where we find Marnie at the start of this season, especially in the wake of Chris Abbot’s abrupt departure from the series: “I know that when I found out that he had left and we were not too far away from starting to shoot, my first question was ‘Are you guys good?’ to Jenni and the writers and Lena. Like, if it doesn’t bother you guys, then I know what they come up with was going to be just as good if not better than what they had us doing originally in their outline and writing of the season initially. So it wasn’t terrifying. It wasn’t devastating. What they came up with for Marnie to do this season has been the greatest gift. And the fact that they came up with it more quickly than they probably would have liked to just proves their prowess as a creative team and it feels like one long present that I’ve been given in the season. I’m very, very happy.”
Photo Courtesy of Reuters
