There's no denying that Lena Dunham is a millennial icon. And with her new series, Too Much, finally available to stream from today, rom-com fans cannot contain their excitement.
Too Much follows the story of Jessica, a New Yorker who relocates to London to restart her life and career after experiencing heart break with her boyfriend, Zev. In London, she falls in love with an unlikely match, a musician called Felix, who leads her on an array of adventures in the capital.
Too Much isn't directly based on a true story, but Dunham told The Hollywood Reporter that the 'germ' of the story is 'autobiographical.' Naturally, this has led to renewed interest in Dunham's own personal life including her ex-boyfriend Jack Antonoff.
Who is Jack Antonoff?
Jack Antonoff is a US musician, who most people will know as the lead singer and founding member of Bleachers, an indie pop band. Antonoff has a successful career in the music industry, having produced work for numerous high-profile artists, including Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Lorde and St. Vincent. He was named as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024.
How did Jack Antonoff and Lena Dunham meet?
Jack Antonoff and Lena Dunham met when they were set up on a blind date by his friend, the comedian Mike Birbiglia, in 2012. The pair hit it off quickly, with Jack telling New York he immediately told Lena everything about himself - 'because when you really like someone, you want them to know everything about you.'
Dunham and Antonoff moved into an apartment together in Brooklyn and got a dog called Lamby. In an interview with The Guardian, Dunham spoke about their strong bond. 'I've had boyfriends before, but never someone who was a constructive member of society and made my life better. And I have a really great boyfriend now. I'm really lucky. It would be hard to be with someone who wasn't supportive of what I did,' she told the outlet.
How long were Jack Antonoff and Lena Dunham together?
Jack and Lena dated for five years. In a 2015 interview with The Times, Antonoff gushed about Dunham, explaining she inspired his debut album. 'We've been together for over two years, which for me is a long time, and I still want to know everything about her. That's what falling in love is. You're wrapped up in a mystery novel, lost in an exciting world,' he said.
Engagement rumours circulated throughout their relationship, but the pair had vowed not to tie the knot until same-sex marriage was made legal in all 50 US states.
Speaking about marriage to New York, Antonoff said: 'It’s hard to imagine when the right time is, because things are so crazy at the moment,' adding 'It just seems like the most fun thing in the world. I’ve never met people who have kids who haven’t looked me in the eye and been like, "It’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened."'
When the Supreme Court voted in favour of marriage equality in 2015, the engagement rumours around the pair ramped up again. Dunham addressed these on Ellen DeGeneres. 'I mean, we own a dog together. We own a home together, but the marriage thing is a big deal,' she said, adding that she was excited to marry Antonoff 'at some point.'
Why did Jack Antonoff and Lena Dunham split up?
The pair announced their split in 2018, with a source at the time telling people it was 'amicable.'
Five months later, Lena addressed the break up in an article in Vogue. 'We sat in our shared kitchen of nearly four years and quietly faced each other, acknowledging what nobody wanted to say. That obsessive connection had turned to blind devotion, and the blinders were coming off to reveal that we had evolved separately (the least shocking reason of all and perhaps the most common),' she wrote. 'That anger wasn’t sexy or sustainable. That our hearts were still broken from trying so hard to fix it but no longer uncertain about whether or not we could. The finality nearly killed me.'
Is Too Much based on Lena Dunham and Jack Antonoff?
Lena Dunham has said that Too Much is loosely based on her own experiences, although she stressed the show differs to real life in many ways. She told Variety 'It’s certainly not quote-unquote based on a true story, but like everything I do, there is an element of my own life that I can’t help but inject.'
And what about the comparisons between Jessica's break up in the show, and Dunham's split with Jack Antonoff? In an interview with Vanity Fair, Lena explained that Zegen's character (Jessica's ex-boyfriend in Too much) is not directly based on Antonoff.
'That ex-boyfriend is very much an amalgamation of every ex that I’ve had, or that a friend’s had,' she said. 'It’s this quotidian acceptance of unkindness that eats away at a person over a long period of time and degrades their sense of self. If someone were to say, "Who inspired that character?" I’d be like, "Do you have time for me to give you 42 examples?"'
Alice Hall is the Staff Writer at Grazia UK. She was previously a Junior Features Writer for The Daily Telegraph. At Grazia, she writes news and features about pop culture, dating, health, politics and interiors.