Happy Lena Dunham day! After months of waiting, Lena Dunham's much-anticipated new series, Too Much, is finally here.
The ten-episode series follows New Yorker Jessica who moves to London after a painful breakup. She's a workaholic in her 30s, who finds herself connecting with Felix, who appears to be the wrong match for her. You can expect the usual Dunham mix of millennial-ness, romance and the odd tear.
But aside from her successful professional life, there's growing interest in Lena Dunham's personal life, including her husband, Luis Felber. This is partly because Too Much was loosely inspired by Dunham's own experience meeting Luis Felber upon moving to the UK - although she stressed there are some key differences between the show and her life.
Who is Lena Dunham's husband Luis Felber?
Luis Felber is a musician who is married to Lena Dunham. He was born in Winchester to a Peruvian mother and a British father, spending his early years in Peru and Chile. He moved back to Britain when he was seven years old, and went on to pursue a career in music.
Luis spent his twenties playing in different bands while they toured. Eventually, Luis decided to pursue his own solo career under the name Attawalpa. 'I've been signed to labels before, and had a bunch of money. They'll say "make something with this" and that's really cool, and I did, but then they're allowed to dabble in it and I really like the sort of DIY, out on the street, aspect of making things. Especially with videos, I get to collaborate and evolve with really cool directors and people I've been wanting to work with for ages,' he said in an interview with Yuck Magazine.
How old is Luis Felber?
Luis Felber is 39 years old, which is the same age as Lena.
How did Lena Dunham meet Luis Felber?
Lena Dunham and Luis Felber met in early 2021, and embarked on a whirlwind romance. They were set up on a blind date by mutual friends, and according to reports, instantly hit it off.
In an article published in The Sunday Times, Felber said he actually 'had to Google' Lena before her first date as he didn't know who she was. 'Then I went on her Instagram and I saw her dancing to a song called ‘Red Hot P***y’ in her garden in LA,' he said. 'Lena puts herself out there in a really special way. That was all I had to go on at the time.'
In an interview with The New York Times, Felber spoke about the moment they met. 'It was a blind date. A mutual friend of ours basically set us up,' he told the outlet. 'The first time we hung out, we didn't stop talking for, like, eight hours … I think it was sort of incredible, you know, I walked into that. I'd been on quite a few dates in the past year. As someone who's quite open, I find you hold a lot back on your first three dates. Or first 10 dates. I was just a bit fed up with that, so I just walked into the situation very myself, shall I say. And Lena liked that. And she's the same.'
Are Lena Dunham and Luis Felber married?
Yes! The couple moved in together after a few months of dating and got married after seven months in an intimate ceremony with family and friends. It seems things have only got better from there.
Speaking to The New York Times, Felber shared some sweet words about their bond. 'Every morning is a blessing. And every evening, to be able to go to bed with your best friend and chat — we find it hard to go to sleep at a decent hour. It's rarely eight hours,' he said.
Lena has also previously commented on how fast the relationship moved, saying that getting married so quickly 'is not something I recommend to everybody but it worked for us'. She explained that the pair's marriage taught them 'teamwork and compromise' which has 'trickled into my family dynamics and friendships in a really good way'.
Is Too Much based on a true story?
Very loosely, according to Dunham. Luis and Felix (played by Will Sharpe, who you might recognise from The White Lotus) are both professional musicians, and, like Jessica, Lena met Felber when she moved from New York to North London. Felber's band Attawalpa also made the music for many of the tracks in Too Much.
However, Lena has stressed that the show isn't entirely a true story. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lena said the 'germ' of Too Much is 'autobiographical', but the show 'really expanded far beyond what we had even dreamed it could be into a totally different world.'
When it comes to the characters, she told Radio Times that they differ from herself and Luis in major ways, and were developed in line with the cast members. 'It was an interesting melding where, of course, there were starting points of emotions or things I'd experienced, but then I really wanted to write to... not necessarily who they are, but just aspects of them – and what I think that they can do,' she said.
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.