Jeff Vespa/WireImageAlthough Lena Dunham jokes around on her hit show, Girls, the actress has a very serious side, which she showed Today show host, Savannah Guthrie.
The writer stopped by the morning show to promote the upcoming fourth season of her HBO series and discuss her memoir, Not That Kind of Girl, which received some criticism in the wake of its release. The memoir has its funny moments, but it also gets very real, very quickly, especially when Dunham writes about getting raped.
The Today show host asked the actress how it felt when people "attempted to discredit" her story, and she said while it was hard to hear what people had to say she also realized that as a star she has more options than other victims.
"It's a very very painful thing to share an episode that person and receive criticism, but what I received was only a small percentage of the doubt and victim-blaming that most women who are sexually assaulted in this country experience," she told Guthrie. "I am a celebrity with a platform and a lot of incredible support.
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"Most women who come forward with accusations of sexual assault don't have those benefits," she continued. "[They] don't have my legal and emotional and financial supports, and so for me I really feel like it enhanced my understanding of the cause and hopefully will make me a better advocate and activist in the future."
Although the two discussed the heavy topic at length, Dunham and Guthrie also talked about what to expect from Girls' fourth season, which is set to premiere Jan. 11. The series will never be without its dramatic moments, but Dunham revealed that even though the gang has made poor decisions in the past, this season the group will start trying to make the right choices.
But making "adult choices" doesn't necessarily mean that life will be smooth sailing for them.
Watch the clip above to find out more about the upcoming season of Girls.
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