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Oh, the Golden Globes are this Sunday? Sorry, we're just way more excited about the season-two premiere of HBO's breakout hit Girls!
Yes, Hannah (Lena Dunham), Marnie (Allison Williams), Jessa (Jemima Kirke) and Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) are back and better than ever. And by better, of course we mean more confused than ever, with each girl making mistakes (Drugs! Sleeping with her BFF's ex! Marrying a total stranger!) and having a damn good time doing so.
We chatted with Dunham and the girls and guys of Girls at the show's season-two premiere in New York, where they dished on getting naked onscreen, shocking hookups and what's ahead for one of the show's fan-favorite couples...
"I get naked enough that they at least now their director and showrunner has experience before," Dunham explains of creating a comfortable environment for her actors. "I just try and say, 'This is a safe space. When you take your pants off, no one's going to laugh...until later when the show airs on TV.'" While Williams has yet to appear naked onscreen, she admits, "The scariest thing I've ever had to do yet is go to the bathroom on camera, just urinating, that felt very personal to me!"
Girls (and Dunham) has received praise for showcasing realistic body types and the 26-year-old says, "I hope that my presence and that of my castmembers on television has given people some sense that a range of body types is appropriate and even wonderful on TV." Of Dunham's talent, Kirke says, "I suppose it's the ability to say what everyone's really thinking and to show what everyone's doing. Not everyone, of course, but the girls that she knows in her age group are doing."
Aside from Dunham and the cast's naked bodies, viewers will also see a controversial topic addressed on the show: Race. "We are definitely a show that we don't shy away from discussing anything, and we always wanted to work with Donald [Glover]. Race was always an issue we were going to hit on in our own due time," Dunham, who received flack for the show's lack of diversity in season one, says. "We really tried to explore the way it impacts a politically correct generation that thinks they're almost 'post-race.' The fact that these conversations still need to happen, just like the conversation about gender equality isn't over. I don't want to get too political here, but hopefully people appreciate the way that we tackled it."
On the romance side of things, Alex Karpovsky spills that Ray and Shoshanna's relationship will continue well into season two and get surprisingly emotional. "We got into a much more personal and emotional place. We start exploring the backstories of Ray and the other characters," he explains. "[Ray and Shoshanna] fumbled our way into this new and unexplored place for both of them. [For] Shoshanna it's supposed to be because of her age, and for Ray it's because of unresolved issues, and I think there's a lot of comedy and dramatic tension waiting for them in that place."
The New Normal's Andrew Rannells appears heavily in the first four episodes as Elijah, Hannah's former boyfriend/current gay roommate. He teased, "I got to do my first nude and sex scene this season. I'm a little nervous!" So who's Elijah hooking up with? Spoiler alert: one of the girls!
For more Girls scoop, watch our interviews with the stars above!
Girls returns Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO.