Lena Dunham’s looking very different – and not everyone’s happy…
The Girls star is already being trolled
The last ever episode of Girls hits our screens next month – and heat can reveal that, since filming the show’s finale back in October, star Lena Dunham has lost two dress sizes, going from a UK size 16 to a 12. She’s been working out with Gwyneth Paltrow’s trainer Tracy Anderson for years now, but recently stepped up her workout for health reasons – and, say insiders, to move into films.
The Girls writer, director and creator – who last year said, “I feel good with my size” – looks amazing, but last week, admitted that she has faced criticism online for losing weight, with some commenters calling her a hypocrite. “I feel I’ve made it pretty clear over the years that I don’t give even the tiniest of shits what anyone else feels about my body,” she wrote on Instagram. “Right now, I’m struggling to control my endometriosis through a healthy diet and exercise, so my weight loss isn’t a triumph – and it also isn’t some sign I’ve given into the voices of trolls. Because my body belongs to me and whatever I’m doing with it, I’m not handing in my feminist card to anyone.”
Days later, she talked about it again, telling US chat-show host Ellen Degeneres, “I had this experience of my body changing and suddenly I had all these people being like, ‘You’re a hypocrite, I thought you were body positive. I thought you were a person who embraced bodies of all sizes.’ And I’m like, ‘I do. I also understand that bodies change. We live a long time, things happen.’”
And, our insiders say, there’s another reason she’s changing her body: to avoid getting typecast.
“Lena wants to be a movie star and has been having a lot of meetings with studios,” says a friend of the actress. “Her new look and wardrobe makeover are to help show her versatility – she knows she can’t be playing Hannah forever. She wants to get a Girls movie made by HBO and then springboard a movie career off that. Her dream is to play the lead in a romantic comedy and turn the tables on the traditional Hollywood casting rules, playing it very quirky and unique.”
And they add, “Lena says that, if Girls does get a movie, she would factor her weight loss into the story – it wouldn’t be healthy to gain weight quickly again. And she wouldn’t want to have to lose more weight for a role, that’s not what she believes in. She’s happier, healthier and more confident than she has been in ages – she doesn’t feel any pressure to lose more.” n