The Cast of Girls Reveals Fascinating Behind-the-Scenes Secrets

It’s not often that the cast of Girls shows up in Los Angeles. After all, these girls are true New Yorkers—unofficial ambassadors of Brooklyn, if you will. So it came as no surprise that members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (a.k.a. the Emmys) came out in full force last night to see these much talked-about actresses (and Andrew Rannells!) reveal everything about Girls.

Our Glamour April cover star Lena Dunham skipped doing interviews on the red carpet in favor of taking photos and signing autographs with fans across the street, but I did catch up with all of her co-stars to play a little game of Girls superlatives!

What’s the funniest scene you’ve been a part of?
Jemima Kirke (Jessa Johansson): “The hardest scene to keep together was sitting at the dinner table with my in-laws. That was a very tough one!”
Andrew Rannells (Elijah Krantz): “That whole coke episode in the second season. We were running all over the place doing fake cocaine. That was probably the best time I’ve had doing anything! Lena was in that weird mesh top, and I looked so dirty, and it was just great.”
Allison Williams (Marnie Michaels): “It’s never the ones you expect. The number one scene was in the first season when Jemima and I had our kiss with Thomas-John. We could not get through it without laughing. It was late and we were slap-happy!”
Zosia Mamet (Shoshanna Shapiro): “The scene where I had to run through Bushwick with no pants on. That was a fun, interesting night! Nobody’s cell phone worked and we were in the middle of nowhere.”

Who would you trust to pick you up at the airport on time?
Jemima: “Allison Williams. Because Lena’s really busy, and Allison would be on time.”
Andrew: “Allison. She’s very punctual. Although I’m reliable too!”
Allison: “I’ll be offended if I’m not their answer! I would be early, and I would be annoying them with texts as soon as they got off the plane, like, ‘I see you’ve just landed, I’m in passenger pickup area A, here’s my license plate, I’m wearing a bright purple sweater.'” I would be a very good delivery driver! And I’m going to return the compliment and say Jemima would be my airport pickup!”

Allison Williams wore a Brunello Cucinelli blouse and pant (yes, they were as comfy as they looked!) ensemble and Christian Louboutin nude pumps. This picture doesn’t show it, but her sparkling engagement ring was on full display last night and it was beautiful!

Who writes the best birthday cards?
Jemima: “I’ve never gotten a birthday card from any of them. Maybe from Lena I’ve gotten a phone call. Lena gives presents!”
Andrew: “Lena. Although I’ve never gotten anything. [Laughs]”
Allison: “Probably Lena. She’s on top of all that.”
Zosia: “Maybe Allison. She’s super on it.”

Who’s the silliest on set?
Jemima: “None of us are very silly. I’m serious! [Laughs] We stay in our trailers mostly.”
Andrew: “I guess I might be. Adam Driver and I had a good time hanging out this season. He’s pretty silly.”
Allison: “I wouldn’t describe any of us as silly. Maybe Jemima.”
Zosia: “Andrew Rannells. He makes us laugh all the time.”

Who’s the resident foodie?
Jemima: “Probably Zosia.”
Andrew: “Allison. She goes out to really good places.”
Allison: “None of us are food snobs, but Zosia has the most complicated food landscape. I learn a lesson a day about obscure food allergies from her.”
Zosia: “Probably Lena. I’m just a weird eater because I’m allergic to a bunch of sh-t. But I don’t know if I’d consider myself a resident foodie!”

Who’s the best when it comes to relationship advice?
Jemima: “Lena.”
Andrew: “Lena. She’s seen me through some interesting times.”
Zosia: “I think Adam Driver is a secret wealth of wisdom. Lena’s great too.”

During the panel, there were tons of interesting tidbits that the cast shared. Here’s the best quotes of the night!

*Lena, on first meeting Jemima when they were pre-teens: “I remember her, but she doesn’t remember me.”
*Jemima on not remembering Lena: “I just didn’t store that memory. [Laughs] But I definitely took notice in high school. She was just so quirky and probably the only kid who didn’t have her niche or her group that she went to in the hallways.”
*Lena’s dad isn’t an emotional guy, but when he saw his daughter directing Jemima in the pilot, he broke into tears. “He couldn’t believe that us girls, who got into the things we got into in high school, were where we were now,” revealed Dunham.
*Jemima commented that Jessa is so much like her in real-life that “when I read the pilot I was like, ‘Obviously this is me.’ [Laughs] It made the job that much simpler!”
*Executive Producer Ilene S. Landress admitted that they knew right away Jemima was Jessa, but casting Marnie was the hardest.

*According to Dunham, “the initial conception of Marnie was based off of a friend of mine. When Allison showed up, she’s gorgeous and talented and brilliant, but there was this chemistry between us. Judd was like, ‘Yep, this works.'”
*When asked how the show gets such an un-rehearsed feel to it, EP Landress explained that “it really is very scripted. We do give them time to ad-lib, and we also have writers throwing alts [alternative lines] out there to them.”
*Jemima has the hardest time keeping a straight face during scenes. But Andrew Rannells is the one that cracks everyone up.
*Regarding the recent date episode with Marnie and Elijah, Allison Williams said to Andrew, “At one point your penis will touch my vagina, and you will just have to be OK with it.”
*Due to the popularity of the show, security has obviously been beefed up wherever the girls are shooting. Says Dunham: “Some people are just pissed that we’ve ruined their neighborhood or something. Like their rent goes up [and they blame us]!”
*During the first season, vendors and businesses were constantly sending the production office what they though were Girls-appropriate merchandise. According to Allison Williams that consisted of “vibrators, vibrators, vibrators!” Dunham chimed in: “If I used all of that, I would die.” Added Landress: “We were sent boxes and boxes of condoms during the first season!”
*Dunham revealed that she created the characters in the following order: Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and then Shoshanna.

*Why does Shoshanna have a different hairstyle every episode? Says Mamet: “Why not? She’s so weird about doing everything right, but at the same time she’s just exploding with ideas. So she’ll wake up and all the sudden this creation will come out of her head. I think that’s just the way she expresses herself. And we have some amazing hair people because I couldn’t do that.” Allison Williams was quick to add that “the doughnut hair is an American treasure.” Countered Mamet: “Normally they tell me what they’re thinking that day in the hair and makeup trailer, and then a doughnut just appeared on my head one day.”
*Asked why Dunham didn’t call the show “Women,” she replied, “it would be a bit of a stretch to call these particular women ‘women.'”
*What was behind Dunham’s decision to explore Hannah’s OCD? Dunham revealed that “it’s something I’ve death with since I was a child and have learned how to handle effectively. The environment of a show and the writers room made me feel so much braver about looking at that. That was a gift that the show gave me—the ability to discuss that. When the first season of the show was coming out, I felt an increase in my symptoms, and the writers said, ‘let’s use this.’ It was a scary thing because it’s not relatable to everybody, but I was so heartened by our viewers who said that even if they didn’t know someone who battled OCD, it made them more understanding.”

*Dunham was asked if there has been a criticism about the show that has made sense to her. Her reply? “I think all of them make sense. All those dialogues have been helpful and useful and educating. Attacks can get so personal, so you owe it to yourself and the viewers to take those conversations seriously. But for your sanity, sometimes you have to block things out in the Internet age. We’ve been really grateful for those dialogues and for the duration we’ve received from making the show. But the one that says your parents are famous and that’s how you got the show, that’s really stupid.”
*Craziest thing a fan has said to you? Jemima had the audience in hysterics when she said that when fans tells her she really looks like that girl from Girls, “I mess with them a little bit. I’ve also heard that criticism that her English accent is sh-t.” [Laughs]
*Mamet recounted how people aren’t afraid to tell her about their sex lives, and Williams said that she’s had a lot of Charlies come up to her to say that they’re a Charlie as well.

What’s to come on Girls‘ final two episodes of season 3: Dunham said “it’s not a spoiler to tell you that things aren’t going great with Hannah and Adam, but there is a lot of love between those characters. They [just] have a lot of trouble with being on the same page at the same time.” Also, the finale is called “Two Plane Rides,” but according to Dunham, “there are no plane rides in the episode. Usually it’s just a throw-away.” But you can expect to see Marnie do more performing, and, wait for it…Adam Driver’s butt.

And could there be a Girls movie one day, a la Veronica Mars? “Sure, why not?” guessed Landress. “If there’s more stories to tell, sure. It’s just a matter of if Lena and the rest of the writers have something to say.”