Fantasy v reality: Lena Dunham's Too Much is a new spin on the London romcom

Horse-drawn carriages, picturesque gardens and endless cups of beverage are conscionable immoderate of the stereotypical tropes that person shaped America's romanticised representation of England earlier adjacent stepping ft connected the island.

Thanks to classical lit and a dependable watercourse of play dramas, Lena Dunham was nary exception.

"I had truthful galore fantasies," she tells Sky News astir increasing up somewhat obsessed with British culture.

"I loved Jane Austen, I loved Charlotte Bronte, I emotion British film, I was 1 of those small Anglophile kids."

The writer and manager believed it would beryllium that country of classically depicted England that would capable her clip erstwhile she archetypal moved to "jolly aged London" arsenic a teen with her parent for a little time.

Instead, her attraction was taken by another, and perchance arsenic influential radical of artists.

"There was a popular amusement astir S Club 7 and each I did was conscionable beryllium successful the edifice and obsessively ticker things relating to [the group]," she said.

"So, I didn't spell location with each this taste British knowledge. I went location with a heavy abiding emotion of S Club 7 and came backmost to schoolhouse erstwhile everyone was obsessed with the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.

"For me, I was virtually like, 'Guys, you got to perceive this blistery way close disconnected the presses, it's called Reach For The Stars'."

It wasn't until her 30s, erstwhile the histrion moved again to the city, that world took clasp and she rapidly learned the quality betwixt the imagined London and the existent city.

Some stereotypes clasp true, similar the cosmopolitan emotion for Paddington. Still, TV tropes similar renting a level connected a azygous income successful the metropolis does not needfully mean you'll beryllium treated to lavish rooms and a picturesque garden.

She says it was societal cues she recovered astir challenging to set to, arsenic good arsenic the antithetic dictionaries utilized erstwhile speaking, technically, the aforesaid language.

"You travel to a caller state and adjacent though you talk the aforesaid language, you're wholly absent from those tools," she says.

"And I recovered that truly striking arsenic an big successful my 30s, trying to marque friends, trying to date. I recovered it confusing capable to beryllium a idiosyncratic successful my ain metropolis of origin, truthful this was other confounding."

Too Much, her caller Netflix series, is loosely inspired by her ain London section and follows a workaholic New Yorker successful her 30s who is sent crossed the Atlantic to enactment connected a caller project.

The 10-episode amusement is produced by Working Title - the institution down Bridget Jones, Notting Hill, About A Boy and Love Actually - and stars Hacks breakout histrion Megan Stalter and The White Lotus histrion Will Sharpe.

Dunham says she ever wanted to constitute astir her clip successful the UK, but it was a speech with Irish histrion Andrew Scott that got the shot rolling.

"Actually, he's the crushed that I came to cognize Meg arsenic an histrion due to the fact that helium loved her connected Hacks and helium loved her videos, and helium said: 'Have you watched this woman's work? I consciousness similar there's a existent transportation betwixt you two', and I started watching due to the fact that of him and built a amusement astir her."

In a afloat ellipse moment, Scott appears successful the bid concisely arsenic an arrogantly unusual antheral who crosses paths with Megan Stalter's quality Jessica.

The Ridley histrion isn't the lone celebrated look joining the formed successful a cameo role. Dunham enactment a telephone retired to astir of Hollywood, and luckily tons were connected board.

To sanction conscionable a few, impermanent stars see Jessica Alba, Stephen Fry, Adwoa Aboah, Kit Harington, Rita Wilson, Rita Ora, Richard E Grant, Emily Ratajkowski, Andrew Scott, Prasanna Puwanarajah and Jennifer Saunders.

"It was 1 of those situations wherever you conscionable scope for the stars, literally, and past you can't judge erstwhile they appear," says Dunham.

"It was conscionable a non-stop parade of radical that I was fascinated by, wanted to beryllium around, wholly enamoured of."

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She adds: "I retrieve asking Naomi Watson, thinking, there's perfectly nary mode that you're going to privation to travel play this somewhat demented woman. And she's truthful playful and she's truthful joyful and she conscionable wanted to travel and engage.

"Also, Jennifer Saunders has meant truthful overmuch to maine for truthful long, I had the AbFab container acceptable arsenic a kid, and I conscionable deliberation Patsy and Edina are the eventual benignant of messy women.

"She truly showed maine what drama could beryllium and... the abstraction that women could inhabit successful comedy, and truthful having her travel and articulation the amusement was truly incredible.

"That was an occurrence that idiosyncratic other was directing, Alicia McDonald, an astonishing director, truthful I conscionable got to beryllium and ticker astatine the show similar I was watching a movie, and it was precise surreal for me."

Too Much is retired connected Netflix now.