A ‘funhouse’ take on reality
She may headline one of the most risque and raw new shows on TV, but when she was a girl Allison Williams wanted to be a Disney princess. We’re talking a full-on, squeaky-clean damsel in all her animated glory. “I still want to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast,” says Williams, who was only allowed to watch public television until she was 12. “She’s smart — she reads while she walks in an amazing feat of coordination that I’ve yet to be able to pull off.”
On HBO’s Girls, though, the main characters stumble through their 20s in a haze of awkward sex, unstable jobs and explosive friendships. In comparison, reading while walking might as well be a stroll in the park. “I think it’s very specific and honest and often it’s hard to watch,” says Williams, who plays put-together Marnie Michaels, a privileged college grad in New York who loses both her boyfriend and best friend in Season 1.
“It’s grounded in reality and the opposite of whatever aspirational stuff is out there. Sometimes it’s like looking into a very, very harsh mirror with bad lighting, like one of those funhouse mirrors.” Filming the notorious sex scenes — like one in which Marnie enjoys a moment by herself after meeting a boy — is just the opposite, an easy collaboration with the crew. “I was very nervous about the logistics of it,” confesses the actress, whose background is more comedic. “I wanted to know how long it would take, how many takes we would do, what places the camera was going to be in.
Season 1 of Girls hits DVD Tuesday, with Season 2 set to debut Jan. 13. Until then, HBO Canada is re-airing first-year episodes for fans who are waiting on tenterhooks following the gamechanging Season 1 finale in June. Though Williams can’t reveal much about Season 2, she notes that the men will get more of the spotlight and we’ll see the fallout of Jessa’s (Jemima Kirke) surprise wedding, Hannah’s (series creator Lena Dunham) breakup and Shoshanna’s (Zosia Mamet) first time having sex.
And yes, there’ll be more nudity and awkward sex scenes, which the daughter of NBC News anchor Brian Williams is OK with. “Lena is so genuinely interested in only portraying the truth in this show, and I trust her completely,” she says. “So if she says that something is necessary to the character, to the show, then I’m willing to help that cause.” (HBO Canada — 9:30 p.m.)