
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.

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
2019 · as 'Gypsy'

This Is 40
2012 · as Cat

The House of the Devil
2009 · as 911 Operator (voice)

Side by Side
2012 · as Self

Sharp Stick
2022 · as Heather

7 Days in Hell
2015 · as Lanny Denver

Music
2021 · as Administrator on Phone with Zu (voice)

Happy Christmas
2014 · as Carson

100 Years
2017 · as Narrator (voice)

The Stand In
2020 · as Lisa

The Innkeepers
2011 · as Barista

I Wish You All the Best
2025 · as Ms. Lyons

Taylor Swift: The 1989 World Tour - Live
2015 · as Self - Special Guest

Don't Think Twice
2016 · as Self

Treasure
2024 · as Ruth

Tiny Furniture
2010 · as Aura

Everything Is Copy
2015 · as Self

This Changes Everything
2019 · as Self