Not long ago, Megan Stalter — star of Lena Dunham’s new Netflix romantic comedy series, “Too Much” — was still hustling to make a name for herself in comedy.
After leaving Ohio in the mid-2010s to pursue an entertainment career, Stalter did stand-up, improv, and other stage work in Chicago until she found an early dose of fame on social media, posting video parodies of cringe women — including a memorable butter entrepreneur who’s opening line was “Hi, gay!” It didn’t take long for her to parlay her various pursuits, including a web series called “The Megan Stalter Show,” into a breakout part on HBO’s “Hacks,” cameos in projects like Julio Torres’ “Problemista,” and other enviable onscreen roles. Her relatively short road to fame, however, was windy enough for her to learn that, whatever medium she was working in, her true passion was to entertain.
“When I was a kid, I always wanted to be an actor. And when I decided that that’s what I was going to go for, I found improv and stand-up as a door into performing, and then fell in love with that,” Stalter told IndieWire ahead of the “Too Much” series premiere on July 10. “I just think I love performing so much and will always do it.”
Stalter added that she appreciates how each phase of her career — from staging offbeat comedy shows to posting humorous videos on social media and working on some of the biggest series in recent years — has brought out something unique in her as a performer.
“Every single chapter of my career has changed me. I was a different performer before ‘Hacks,’ and now I’m a different performer after ‘Too Much.’ And I think it’s so cool that we can change in our careers, in the way that we perform, like that,” she said.
“It’s even fun to think about being back in Chicago and doing live stuff. There was a chapter where I was doing, like, weird burlesque stuff at stand-up shows. It was comedy, but I was always in my bra, spraying whipped cream on myself,” she continued with a trilling laugh.
The Cleveland native who now lives in Los Angeles may have come a long way from entertaining on Midwest stages in her undergarments, but there are certainly remnants of that performer in her onscreen roles. In “Hacks,” Stalter’s Kayla, a chaotic nepo baby with a heart of gold, steals the show with her off-the-wall comments and frequent passes at her coworker Jimmy (Paul W. Downs). And in “Too Much,” her character, Jess, has both vulnerability and awkward charm that immediately draw others in — in addition to regularly appearing in high-waist underwear that Stalter handpicked. Though, she’s also very obviously Dunham-esque.
“Me Too,” which is a dream gig for Stalter as a longtime fan of “Girls,” is loosely based on Dunham’s love story with her now-husband Luis Felber, a British musician whom she met after moving to the U.K. in 2021. Taking a page from Dunham — who had a breakup of sorts with New York and TV acting after six demanding seasons of her hit series — Jess moves to London to jump-start her stalled career in production and find a fresh start after a messy split with her live-in boyfriend (Michael Zegen). Almost immediately, she falls for a troubled musician named Felix (Will Sharpe) and gets swept up in a world populated by chic exes and wealthy, rudderless Londoners. And she suddenly finds herself with a new life that’s almost busy enough to distract her from what’s going on back at home with her ex and his new girlfriend, Wendy Jones (Emily Ratajkowski).
While navigating her new reality, Jess often finds herself in uncomfortable or embarrassing situations, which are well-suited to Stalter’s brand of comedy and her background in improv. Particularly when playing opposite Sharpe (“The White Lotus”), the comedian demonstrates her talent for creating a character who’s relatable and outlandish, endearing but painful to watch — not unlike Dunham, who plays Jess’ sister in the new series, back in “Girls.”
“One of the things that I do a lot, which I feel like comes easy to me, is playing someone that’s really confident and nervous at the same time,” Stalter said of Dunham encouraging the actors to improvise uncomfortable moments between Felix and Jess, citing a scene involving a particularly awkward kiss. “Improvising an embarrassing moment comes most natural to me.”
Like “Girls,” “Tiny Furniture,” and other projects from Dunham, “Too Much” takes melancholic turns, with occasionally more serious blow-ups between the lead characters — including one fight that Stalter said “felt really sad and weird and scary” to film given the usually jovial environment on set. During these scenes, Stalter said, she leaned more heavily on Dunham, who would help her tap into some of the more serious aspects of the series’ protagonist.
“She helped me access whatever I couldn’t in the moment,” Stalter said, explaining that she’d occasionally struggle to get into the character’s mindset because of a long day, little sleep the night before, or not being able to relate. “If I just connected with her before the scene, I was right there. If I talked to her, then I could cry in every shot.
“I think that it just shows her skills as a director to be able to connect with me like that,” she added, relaying that from their first meeting, she felt as if she had known Dunham forever — although it felt “surreal” to actually share a set with the multihyphenate.
Though “Too Much” isn’t a purely light watch, even the heavier moments in the show elicit a smirk or at least a few laughs, thanks to Dunham’s wry sense of humor, Sharpe and Stalter’s deliveries, and a star-studded supporting cast featuring some of the most versatile American, British, and European actors in the biz.
Richard E. Grant plays Jess’ London boss who hosts drug-fueled gatherings for the staff with the help of his wife, played by Naomi Watts. Adèle Exarchopoulos gives a hilarious turn as one of multiple exes named Polly who make up Felix’s circle. Rhea Perlman and Rita Wilson appear as Jess’ highly opinionated, codependent mother and grandmother. Even Andrew Scott shows up to play a self-serious director whose serial cheating has caught up with him. And Stalter, no stranger to starring alongside big-name actors after four seasons of “Hacks,” plays off them like a seasoned pro — all while, as she puts it in the press notes, being “weird and goofy” and “misbehaving” on set.
“I feel like it is just part of my personality: In high school, I didn’t get a good part in the play, but I’d be really funny backstage and too loud during rehearsal,” Stalter said, reviewing her favorite moments from filming, which included working alongside Scott, whom she compares to her beloved “Hacks” co-star Downs, and Exarchopoulos, whom she describes as intuitively funny and the kind of cool that’s only seen in movies.
“But I also think I’m just so excited and happy to be there. From the moment I was, like, ‘I’m going to move out of Ohio and do comedy full time,’ every part of it has been a dream. I’d be, like, ‘I can’t believe I’m in improv class. I’m so excited to be here.’ And that energy, I think, makes you mischievous and naughty in a good way,” she said, giving a devious smile.
There are many more unbelievable and naughty moments to come in Stalter’s career, to be sure. But for the moment, she’s still basking in the glow of starring opposite the likes of Dunham, Scott, Exarchopoulos, and the rest of the “Too Much” cast and keeping her expectations for what comes next reasonably low.
“I just, first of all, want to keep going. My goal has always been to write stuff that I’m in. And I really would love to be in something kind of scary. I mean, of course, everybody wants to be in ‘The White Lotus,’” the actor said, adding that she’d be more than happy to take on a funny horror film if Mike White doesn’t come knocking. “I think that’d be so cool.”
“Too Much” premieres on Netflix July 10.