real talk

Lena Dunham on How Amanda Bynes Is Like Hannah Horvath

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 10: Lena Dunham participates in a discussion with Ariel Levy during the New Yorker Festival on October 10, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Images for The New Yorker)
Photo: Thos Robinson/2014 Getty Images

As part of the New Yorker Festival on Friday night, Lena Dunham chatted with New Yorker staff writer Ariel Levy about her new book, Not That Kind of Girl, and her general career trajectory. Dunham also touched on Amanda Bynes’s most recent Twitter meltdown, saying that she thinks the troubled former child star is “actually kind of a great writer.” She also addressed her desire to adapt the children’s novel Catherine, Called Birdy into a feature-length film.

But first, her thoughts on Bynes:

I don’t know if I’m the only one who’s been closely following Amanda Bynes’s tweets today. She’s clearly off her medication, the whole situation is really bad … But she did say something kind of similar [to Hannah] which was, “I’m not crazy, I’m actually the one who knows everything that’s happening.” I texted [Jenni Konner] and said, “Maybe I’m nuts, but I think Amanda Bynes is actually kind of a great writer. Do you know what I mean?” She was like, “I don’t know what you mean!”

She also publicly announced that she’s interested in adapting Karen Cushman’s children’s novel into a feature-length film.

That’s our girl.

Lena Dunham: Amanda Bynes Is a ‘Great Writer’