FEW TV SHOWS HAVE CAUSED A STIR LIKE GIRLS. A 2010S SATIRE ON A GROUP OF NEW YORKERS HAS LONG BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD AS A GLORIFYING DEPICTION OF A SELF-CENTRED GENERATION THAT WORSHIPPED AMERICAN APPAREL, GALLERY OPENINGS IN BROOKLYN, AND “MAKING IT” IN INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING. NOW, AFTER YEARS SPENT MAKING MOVIES, ITS CREATOR, LENA DUNHAM, IS BACK WITH NETFLIX’S TOO MUCH, A NEW SERIES LIGHTLY INSPIRED BY HER LIFE – THIS TIME FOCUSING ON HER MOVE TO LONDON AFTER A DIFFICULT BREAKUP AND FALLING IN LOVE WITH A BRITISH MAN SOON AFTER. ALONGSIDE ITS CAST IS ACTOR AND COMEDIAN LEO REICH, WHOSE TAKE ON A PINK-HAIRED, ANNOYING GAY (EVERY ADVERTISING AGENCY OFFICE’S STAPLE) HAS BEEN MAKING US GIGGLE THROUGHOUT THE SHOW. HERE, REICH GIVES US AN INSIDE LOOK INTO THE LIFELONG DREAM OF WORKING WITH DUNHAM, SHOOTING IN A COKE DEN WITH NAOMI WATTS, AND PERFORMING STAND-UP AT A SMALL PLATES RESTAURANT.

Left Shirt, pants **Giorgio Amrani**, shoes **Jimmy Choo**
Right Full look **Wooyoungmi**

I just finished Too Much last night, and I’m so happy because I’ve been missing Lena Dunham’s writing in my life. Girls is my favourite show ever, nothing else compares. It has completely indoctrinated me, for better or for worse.

It’s the best. Which character are you?

I got to say, I think I’m a mix of Hannah with a little bit of Marnie – sometimes I can get pressed about things. [Laughs] I don’t know if that’s a great combo…

Well, you don’t want to be any of them. And that’s the joy of the show. There are no good answers, unfortunately. The other day, one of my friends was like, “I think I’m Charlie.” He said it in a very smug way. And I was like, “That’s not good.” [Laughs]

You bravely came out as a 100% percent Hannah. What are your most Hannah qualities?

A delusional self-confidence based on nothing, undercut by a deep self-hatred. Constantly trying to be funny, but ultimately, being quite annoying. A deep love of pursuing people who might secretly hate you.

[Laughs] Uff, some of those ring a bell for me. We just have to own it.

We’ll get there.

Left Shirt and jacket **Marni**, pants **Denzil Patrick**
Right Full look **Dior Men**

What are your favourite episodes of Girls to go back to?

I like to say that I’m constantly rewatching it, so I’ll always be at some point in the cycle. I love the series finale of season five, where she reads at The Moth. I have a special place in my heart for the episode where Hannah and Elijah do cocaine. It has some of the best lines in the whole series. Some of them just work their way into my brain, and I end up repeating them in my actual life. There’s this bit where she turns up at Booth Jonathan’s apartment and says to Marnie, “Who’s really the bad friend? It’s YOU.” It’s so funny.

I could reminisce about Girls all day, but let’s get to Lena’s new show, Too Much. I read that she wrote your part with you in mind after seeing your stand-up special. What do you think won her over?

I haven’t worked up the courage to ask her directly, “So what is it that you love about me?” [Laughs] But just because I’m such a huge fan, I would hope there’s a crossover of sensibilities [between us]. We are both trying to do that thing where you are cynically taking apart your own personality and the social group that you are in, but doing it with so much love that it remains empathetic.

Were you responsible for the character’s look? Or were the light pink hair and severe spray tan already in the script from the get-go?

Well, the spray tan was there because we filmed in the dead of winter, it was freezing, and I looked like a ghost. But the pink hair was in the script – initially, it was meant to be a buzz cut. And my only diva thing was going, “I’m really sorry, but I can’t get a buzz cut because it will reveal both how odd my head shape is and also quite how big it is.” I shaved my head one time, and I vowed never to do it again. They also wanted a much darker, more serious pink, and I argued for candy floss pink. [Laughs]

What’s the most ridiculous line that you got to say on the show?

I really like the line in episode two, where I say that I broke up with someone because they didn’t have the emotional intelligence to deal with a person whose love language is being a bitch in a fun way.

One of my favourite moments was the cocaine den party thrown by the characters played by Naomi Watts and Richard E. Grant. Tell me, how does one create an atmosphere of a coke binge with Naomi Watts?

With immense ease. [Laughs] It was so funny to come home from that day of shooting. I think I was still staying at my parents’ home at the time, so when they asked me what I filmed that day, I was like, “Oh, just doing coke with Naomi Watts.” Hearing that come out of my mouth made me think, “What is my life now?” I have a kind of ADHD personality anyway, so it wasn’t the biggest acting challenge to act like I was on coke, I have to say.

I also loved seeing the more vulnerable side of Megan Stalter throughout the series. What was it like to have her as a scene partner?

Just the best thing ever, she’s the funniest person in the world. I was a fan of her as a comic for years, and she really carried through that electric energy to being on set. It was so hard not to laugh. She does this amazing thing where she’ll be speaking and then halfway through a line, she’ll just scream something. I was so relieved when we would move from the shots that were in any way on me, because I just couldn’t hold it together a lot of the time.

Towards the end of the season, we find out that your character dabbled in “straight” rap a couple of years back, which still lives on the internet. What would you say is the most embarrassing thing online that involves you? You might as well share it now and get ahead of the story. [Laughs]

I’ve archived a lot of Instagram posts because I’ve had Instagram since I was 15. And that’s a shame. Also, as a teenager, I used to be one of those people on Twitter who would reply to celebrities as if they were my friends. I was obsessed with 30 Rock, and one of the people I followed when I was around 13 was Alec Baldwin. And I’ve replied to all of Alec Baldwin’s tweets.

Oh my god!

I want to be on his reality show as an old friend.

[Laughs] Have you seen it?

I have not. Has anyone?

Well, he needs your support right now. I wanted to ask you about your stand-up background. What were your beginnings like? The life of a comedian that’s starting out does seem like a nightmare – so many dingy pubs to perform at! What are you most traumatised by from that time?

Oh my god, so much stuff. I did stand-up for five/six years before my Edinburgh show, and it takes you to some of the worst places. It should be illegal. The things you have to go through are so humiliating. I once turned up to a gig, and it turned out that it was a microphone in the middle of a working restaurant, and none of the people there had any idea there was going to be stand-up comedy. So that was interesting to perform for people who just wanted to have dinner with their friends. The mic didn't really work, I was doing gross jokes about gay sex, and they were all like, “Leave us alone. We just wanna have small plates.”

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Discover the full story in our FW25 Issue - out next Fall25

Interview by Martin Onufrowicz

Photography by Vic Lentaigne

Fashion by Steven Huang

Grooming by Charlie Cullen at Forward Artists using 111 Skin

Photographer’s assistant Jody Evans

Stylist’s assistant Tanya Thakore