Ellen Von Unwerth
Lena Dunham and Jane Fonda have one major thing in common: They've both dealt with body image issues.
The "Girls" star and creator covers the new issue of Paper magazine -- rocking a bright blonde wig and tank top resembling women's breasts in one shot and sporting a mustache on a second cover -- where she opens up about her body image struggles and fertility while chatting with Jane Fonda.
Though Dunham has spoken out before about her struggles with body image, she says it's one of the main reasons she decided to get into acting in the first place.
"One of the reasons I started acting in my own stuff was because I knew that I wanted my characters to have a similar relationship to their own physicality that I do, which is that, despite a knowledge that my body didn't necessarily meet a perfect norm, I've also always felt [comfortable] -- and I think a lot of it does come from my parents and that even in our most challenging moments, they've always sent me the message that I was, at my very core, 'enough,'" she confesses.
"And so for me, I felt like I wanted to play these characters who were held back by things, but none of the things that were holding them back were from being chubby or being short, and they dressed in a way that didn't hide it. All the characters I play always dress like they're a size 0 when they're actually a size 10. Some might call it 'delusional' and I like to think about it as this sort of rocket confidence that's a little unearned but better than the opposite," she adds.
Ellen Von Unwerth
The "9 to 5" star also gets candid in the interview, admitting that she too has struggled with her own physicality.
"I grew up with massive body image [issues], the 78-year-old actress confesses, "my father made me feel that I was fat and unattractive and I don't think he realized how destructive it was and then I watch you and your body is part of your brand."
Later in the interview, Jane asks Lena about her thoughts on starting a family -- if she'd adopt, biologically have a child or wait for marriage.
"Well, you know, it's interesting -- I have a boyfriend [Bleachers frontman and Fun. guitarist/vocalist Jack Antonoff] who I adore and I love him so much and I know he's gonna be a really great father and that's not the reason I love him, but it's a reason I love him. But that being said, I've often said to him, 'you know, I'm kind of getting towards the point in my life where I want to have children and whether I was with you or whether I wasn't with you, that's what I would want to do, but let's find a way that you want to do it,'" she confesses.
"My mom had a lot of friends who were gay in the '80s and '90s and were adopting or who were figuring out alternative ways to be parents and it just never seemed to me to be limited to something that you could only do if you were a happily married woman," she continues. "Not at all. And in terms of adoption, I'm amazed by it. I have endometriosis, and I've said to my boyfriend, 'If fertility ends up being a challenge for me, I'm not gonna be the person who spends six years in IVF,' because while I'm really intrigued by the possibility of carrying a child in my body, and I don't judge anyone else's choices, for me, years and years of hormones and body manipulation wouldn't work for my psychology and my body and it's not important enough to me that my child come out of my body and it's not important to me, really at all, that the child belonged to Jack and me on a genetic level."
You've gotta love Lena for always speaking her mind -- what do you think about the actress' candid comments? Sound off below and check out the gallery above to see more stunning stars!
