Hannah Horvath and her friends have more stories to tell. HBO is bringing back “Girls” for a five-episode revival, reuniting Lena Dunham with the cast that helped turn the comedy-drama into a cultural talking point.
The new episodes are scheduled to begin production in 2027, giving viewers a chance to catch up with the characters nearly 10 years after the original series ended, according to Deadline.
Dunham will once again play Hannah, the aspiring writer whose misadventures helped drive the show. Allison Williams is returning as Marnie Michaels, Jemima Kirke as Jessa Johansson and Zosia Mamet as Shoshanna Shapiro. Andrew Rannells will also reprise his role as Elijah Krantz.
Dunham Reveals Why Now
The reunion has been a possibility for years, but Dunham said she needed a clear reason to revisit the story. In a statement announcing the revival, she revealed that inspiration finally arrived around a personal milestone.
“We always said we would only return to ‘Girls’ if there was a specific story we were burning to tell,” Dunham said. “I’ve missed these characters, but for a long time I couldn’t quite picture them in the present day. Then, right around my fortieth birthday, they started talking to me in the shower.”
She added, “And, as you may remember, once this fivesome starts talking it’s pretty hard to get them to stop…”
Dunham said returning to a project that shaped her life also offers a chance to appreciate it from a different perspective.
“It’s rare that you get the chance to return to something that changed your life with the gift of hindsight and a whole new level of gratitude and understanding,” she said. “I love these girls (and boy), our friends at HBO and all the people who have continued to discover the show and remind us afresh why we do this, which is the joy of being together… and the chance to wear yellow mesh…”
Amy Gravitt, executive vice president and head of HBO & HBO Max comedy programming, also spoke about bringing the show back.
“We’re thrilled to have Lena turn her gaze from the tumult of one’s twenties to the milestone of turning 40,” she began. “To say the world has changed since we last saw Hannah, Marnie, Shoshanna, Jessa and Elijah is a massive understatement, but we know fans — old and new — will be happy to see how they’ve grown and relieved to see that they’re still the ‘Girls’ we knew way back when.”
Dunham Previously Dished on Where She Thought Each Character Would Be
The original series debuted in 2012 and followed four young women as they dealt with work, romance, friendship and the uncertainty of growing up in New York City.
Created by Dunham, the show ran for six seasons before its finale aired in April 2017.
Dunham had already considered what life might look like for the characters as they grew older.
Speaking to Variety in 2025, she suggested that motherhood, menopause and other milestones could provide meaningful reasons to revisit the group.
At the time, she pictured Hannah teaching at Bard College while raising her son. Marnie might have reached her third marriage, while Shoshanna could have divorced New York City’s mayor and built a zero-waste athleisure business. Dunham imagined Jessa living on a boat in Croatia and Elijah working as a sitcom actor while continuing to look for love.
Those ideas were shared before the revival was announced and do not confirm what the new episodes will include.
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Hit HBO Series Returning Almost 10 Years After Its Final Episode