Allison Williams has addressed the release of her former Girls costar Lena Dunham's latest memoir, offering measured commentary on the tell-all book that has generated significant media attention this week.
In an interview with Variety on Tuesday, April 14, Williams, 38, acknowledged she had not yet completed reading the memoir before providing substantive commentary. The actress revealed she was currently reading the section where Dunham, 39, recounts the table read for the HBO series' pilot episode.
"I need to read more before I say anything about it," Williams stated, adding with humor that she anticipated Dunham might write about her arriving "40 minutes late" to the reading, though that detail did not appear in the book.
Williams emphasized the enduring nature of her relationship with Dunham, dismissing any suggestion of tension between the former costars. "We're in touch all the time," Williams explained. "She would have definitely mentioned that 'I'm going to ruin your life with this book.' We love each other. It's a lifelong bond. It's the best."
The memoir in question, Famesick, was released on Tuesday and contains candid revelations about Dunham's experiences during the production of Girls, which aired for six seasons from 2012 to 2017. Among the most discussed passages are those detailing Dunham's complex relationship with costar Adam Driver, who portrayed her on-screen love interest.
Dunham describes developing feelings for Driver during production, recounting moments of emotional intensity between them. "One Saturday afternoon, as I reached for a glass of water in his galley kitchen and chatted offhandedly about something meaningless, I looked up to see him smiling at me with something so tender, it felt like it could only have been love," Dunham wrote. "It disarmed me so totally that I dropped my glass."
The memoir details what Dunham characterizes as a fraught dynamic, noting that she and Driver "fought often" but shared an undeniable connection. "Sometimes I'd tell him he made me feel safe," she wrote. "I didn't yet understand that sometimes you say what you wish were true, instead of just saying what is."
Dunham recounts a specific period when her parents were out of town and Driver's girlfriend was performing in a play in Cincinnati. According to the memoir, Driver visited frequently during this time. "During this week — the week my parents were out of town, when his girlfriend was doing a play in Cincinnati — he was pure concern, pure laughter, pure gold," she recalled. "But that week, the week of my empty apartment, he came over almost every night."
The narrative reaches a critical moment when Driver allegedly called Dunham one Friday evening as he was leaving the theater. "'You still home alone, Dunham?' I was. 'OK. I'm riding down to you. But I'm warning you, if I come up, I'm not leaving this time,'" Dunham wrote, quoting the conversation.
However, when Driver arrived outside her residence, Dunham chose not to answer his call. She explained her reasoning in the memoir: "Some part of me knew — some wise part of me, some bold part of me — that if we crossed whatever boundary we were threatening to cross, the return to work would be tinged with humiliation. That I'd be minimizing any authority I still had, and that, however it went, my heart-bruised but improbably not yet broken-would crack."
According to Dunham, the incident was never discussed between the two actors. Driver became engaged one month following the alleged encounter and has been married to Joanne Tucker since 2013.
Williams' diplomatic response to the memoir's release reflects the professional manner in which the Girls cast has navigated public discussion of their time on the groundbreaking series. Her comments suggest that whatever revelations the book contains, the bonds formed during production have endured beyond the show's conclusion nearly a decade ago.