It’s likely been some time since you’ve heard the name Lena Dunham. The actress, writer, producer and director has been busy doing things here and there, such as HBO Max’s genera+ion. But since the end of Girls, we’ve yet to really see her at the forefront of a project. During the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, Dunham premiered her first film in over a decade, Sharp Stick, and interestingly enough, Taylor Swift is given a special thank you at the end of the film.
Sharp Stick is a coming-of-age comedy starring Jon Bernthal, Taylour Paige and Jennifer Jason Leigh about a 26-year-old woman’s sexual awakening. The movie, which premiered this week, gives a shoutout to Taylor Swift and her partner Joe Alywn in the credits. Here's why, according to Lena Dunham:
They are just really great friends of mine who watched a really early cut of the film and gave me notes. They’re both just really interesting perceptive people. Taylor’s been one of my close friends for a really long time and Joe is an actor who I actually ended up working with on a project that I shot just a few months after this.
While speaking with IMDB, Lena Dunham revealed that she actually showed Taylor Swift and her actor boyfriend an early cut of the film, and they offered her some helpful feedback. It’s no secret that Swift and Dunham have been friends, with the two having been close since 2015. They likely met through producer Jack Antonoff, who co-wrote and produced Taylor Swift’s records starting with 2014’s 1989 and continuing with Reputation, Lover and her quarantine albums folklore and evermore. He memorably was a big part of her Disney+ concert film.
Jack Antonoff and Lena Dunham were once an item between 2012 and 2018. Although the pair separated, Swift has remained close to them both, continuing her working relationship with Antonoff and reportedly being a bridesmaid at Dunham’s 2021 wedding to musician Luis Felber. Swift is apparently supporting Dunham through her most recent film, and the singer’s boyfriend and recent collaborator, Joe Alywn, is even acting in one of Dunham’s other upcoming projects.
Lena Dunham got her start making shorts before directing two early films Creative Nonfiction and Tiny Furniture. Her work has been known to be very personal and push boundaries, even recently inspiring Pete Davidson to do so for The King of Staten Island. Prior to making Sharp Stick, Lena Dunham had a role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Since Sharp Stick premiered, the film has received mixed to negative reviews. The movie has not received a wide release, but we’ll keep you updated. You can check out the other upcoming 2022 movies to look forward to here on CinemaBlend.
