Lena Dunham and husband Luis Felber’s new Netflix series “Too Much,” starring Megan Stalter, is set to drop July 10, and while the series’ trailer promised laughs, Dunham said she also felt a responsibility to use the show to make a stand on women’s rights. Speaking at a preview event (via The Hollywood Reporter), Dunham sported a Planned Parenthood pin and teased a “Too Much” storyline that involves abortion.
“As an artist, I’m proud … that we get to be part of showing people all over the world a healthy woman making a super self actualized choice to get reproductive care [from] a really true, loving abortion provider, because those people are heroes,” Dunham said. “So to be able to represent that was really, really important to me.”
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The “Girls” creator/star also told THR prior to the preview that she felt it necessary to shine a light on Planned Parenthood during “this really pivotal moment.”
“While we know that television may not always change the dial on politics, what we can do is normalize very normal health procedures like abortion for our audience and especially let young people who may be watching and want to get care at Planned Parenthood know what a loving, safe place it is,” she said.
Dunham has partnered with and advocated for Planned Parenthood in the past, including in 2017 when she released a star-studded animated tribute to the organization with participants like Meryl Streep, Mindy Kaling, Jennifer Lawrence, and America Ferrera.
“We’ve been working on the film for over a year in an attempt to shed light on Planned Parenthood’s remarkable history and ongoing battle to keep serving the people who show up to their health centers every day of the year,” Dunham told THR at the time. “I really think it’s the best cartoon about the history of reproductive freedom ever made, but it may also be the only cartoon about the history of reproductive freedom ever made.”
“Too Much” finds Stalter played a workaholic that, in the wake of a failed relationship, moves to London to “live a life of solitude like a Brontë sister.” Of course, things change when she meets a man (Will Sharpe) that challenges her new life plan. The stacked cast also stars Andrew Rannells and Rita Wilson, and features appearances from Andrew Scott, Naomi Watts, and Rhea Pearlman.
Watch the trailer below:
