Lena Dunham Talks with Danny Strong (Rebel in the Rye) for the Talkhouse Podcast

The creator of Girls chats with Strong, a fellow multihyphenate and one of her best friends, about his first film as writer-director.

By Lena Dunham, Danny Strong, and Talkhouse Podcast

6:00 AM EDT on October 3, 2017

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, Girls' creator and star Lena Dunham sits down with fellow actor-writer-director Danny Strong, whose debut feature as writer-director, the J.D. Salinger biopic Rebel in the Rye, is now in theaters. The two friends and officemates discuss the challenges of stepping behind the camera for the first time, owning one's failures, how they met, Lena's mentors David Carr and Nora Ephron, their creative beginnings, and much more – including the projects they are currently working on, such as Dunham's previously unannounced stage project at St. Ann's Warehouse. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop about future Talkhouse Podcasts.

The music featured in the podcast is as follows:
1. Intro / outro underscore: “Plastic Man vs. The Giant Red Phase Of The Sun” – Iced Ink

Episode recorded by Susan Valot and Mark Yoshizumi, and mixed and co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi. The Talkhouse podcast producer is Elia Einhorn.

Lena Dunham

Lena Dunham is an award-winning writer, director, producer and actor living in New York City. She made her directorial debut with the 2009 feature Creative Nonfiction and broke through with her second film, Tiny Furniture. She created, wrote, directed, produced and starred in the HBO show Girls, making six hugely successful seasons of the show between 2012 and 2017. Dunham won Golden Globe and Directors Guild of America awards for her contributions to the show. In 2014, her memoir Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned" was published, and the following year she founded the website Lenny Letter with her creative partner and fellow Girls show runner Jenni Konner.

Danny Strong

Danny Strong's debut film as writer-director, Rebel in the Rye, which stars Nicholas Hoult as the young J.D. Salinger, is currently in theaters and on VOD through IFC Films. Strong is the co-creator and executive producer of the hit drama Empire; he conceived the show with Lee Daniels, who also directed Strong's script for the sleeper hit The Butler. Strong, who was also a co-writer of the Lionsgate franchise films The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Part I and II), began his screenwriting career by both penning and producing the HBO films Recount and Game Change about the 2000 and 2008 elections. Strong is also an actor with extensive credits in film and television and theatre, and has appeared in many of the most famous television shows of the last two decades, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Mad Men, Justified, Girls and Billions. He lives in New York City.

Talkhouse Podcast

Your favorite musicians, filmmakers, and other creative minds one-on-one. No moderator, no script, no typical questions. The Talkhouse Podcast offers unique insights into creative work from all genres and generations. Subscribe now, and explore more illuminating shows on the Talkhouse Podcast Network.