Janicza Bravo and Lena Dunham first met while making Camping — Dunham was the creator of the short-lived HBO series, while Bravo was part of the ensemble cast — but it wasn’t until the pandemic hit two years after its cancellation that their friendship took off. “We had the same outlook,” Bravo says with a laugh. “I’m already a little antisocial, so it only encouraged me to be even more afraid of being around people. Lena and I trusted each other’s isolation style so we started to hang out.” Dunham was also in the beginning stages of her relationship with her now-husband Luis Felber, and soft-pitched Bravo her idea for a show based (loosely!) around their romance. “She said she wanted me to be in it, and that was a no-brainer because I would say no to anything she asked,” says Bravo.

The idea eventually became Too Much, the Netflix rom-com starring Meg Stalter and Will Sharpe that has hit a nerve (complimentary!) with Dunham’s mostly millennial fan base. Bravo plays Kim, Stalter’s co-worker, fellow American and occasional sister in (lovesick) arms; she also directed the episode “One Wedding and a Sex Pest.” Below, she tells The Hollywood Reporter why she was so quick to jump on board the show and what she thinks of the series’ central breakup.

Did Lena write the character of Kim knowing that it would be you playing her?

Sort of. Lena and I had been daydreaming about making something together. Which we are working on, we’re writing something together. The conversation about Too Much was, I want you to do Kim. And I was like, great. When I’m directing, I never get the chance to watch other people direct. I didn’t go to film school, so what I love about acting is being able to learn from directors I like and respect. But I also told her: I have to direct an episode, too. I really wanted to direct in her world.

What about the character of Kim is unique to you as an actor?

At first I was like, oh, you just want me to be Janicza on this show. I think Lena would agree with this, that most casting is because they want some version of you, they want some degree of the thing you are already doing. So there’s a good deal of overlap between me and Kim. She is a woman who sort of ran away from home to start this new life for herself, and it reminded me of how I left New York and came to LA because I wanted to be able to rewrite my own story. Kim is going through the grief of a relationship that didn’t serve her, and trying to find her own sexuality. I had been in a marriage, and was in my 40s, and basically all of the world told me that I was no longer sexy — but I was feeling like my sexiest, and my most interesting, and I liked my body and my brain more than ever. Kim was who I wanted to grow up to be, basically.

Did you consult on any of her wardrobe?

Arielle Cooper-Lethem, who did the costumes, is so brilliant. She did the costumes for my show The Listeners and I really trusted her. She knows I’m a clothes freak. I wanted to wear designers who I love, and who I support myself, but also to be able to champion smaller, lesser-known designers. I also had to remind myself that it was okay to go outside my comfort zone, so there were certainly some items that felt insane, but it wasn’t me wearing them, it was Kim.

What is your take on the character of Zev? How did you react to his relationship choices when you read the script?

We had this conversation with Emily Ratajkowski, who I think on paper is the quintessential the-man-leaves-you-for-this-girl-in-this-kind-of-movie. I think in a lot of ways, Zev is also a pretty classic shithead. But I perceived both of those characters’ stories as being less about who those people are and more, how they move through the world and who do you surround yourself by? Maybe this is because I’m in my forties, and I would see it differently if I were in my twenties. But in my twenties, I wasn’t always good at choosing the right people. I think the show is as much about love as it is about Meg and Will’s characters surrounding themselves with people who are in their corner. So when I think of Zev, sure he’s a dick, but really he’s just not a person who is meant to support her. That’s so clear to me.

You also directed episode eight, and from the outside, you directing Zola was a huge turning point in your career. Did it feel that way to you?

I’ve been on a steady trajectory, I’d say from my first feature Lemon, to the first episode of television I did, which was Atlanta. Both of those came out in the same year [2017], and since then I’ve been able to go from job to job and I’ve also been able to be picky — I’m persnickety, I’m particular, and I’m not very good at doing work I don’t care about. I’ve tried a couple of times and it’s a disaster. I really have to want to be there, so sadly for me it’s not great financially. (Laughs) But both of those projects really gave me a proof of concept, where people could see what I can do as a director. And then Zola changed my life and allowed me to make a leap forward — and to afford to say no to more.

Did you know that it would be life-changing while you were making it?

It’s funny, because at the bottom of 2019 I was like, next year is going to be huge for me. Zola was going to play at Sundance and it was going to come out around July 4th and it was going to be the indie. None of that happened. I waited a year and a half to release the movie, and it happened at a time when theaters are half their capacity — which is not the environment I wanted to release the film in. It’s impossible not to ask if the circumstances had been different, would it have done more for me? But then, what does more even mean?

How did you decide on which episode of Too Much would be best for you to direct?

Lena picked it for me. I tend to direct the departure episodes: a holiday or a funeral. I’ve said no to directing a lot of really good television because I didn’t feel like I was going to be additive, so she picked an episode where I could be. My partner is English, so I’ve had the privilege of going to a handful of English weddings and they were my first idea of what would feel right for the world we were building. The idea was to put Jess in an environment that feels very alien and unwelcoming, and I think it does that. It was such a great location to shoot in, Pippa Middleton got married there and a lot of British shows have shot there. I think The Crown, and there was a scene from Spencer. My perception of England prior to living there for work was what I watched as a teen Anglophile: Merchant Ivory, Remains of the Day. Then I moved there and was like, oh, it’s more Bridget Jones. Meg, as Jess, is modernity being thrust upon a more stale, rigid, conformed way.

You also directed an episode of The Bear this season. What is the best thing you ate during your time working on the show?

That show is fucking awesome. That’s a show where, there’s nothing I’m going to add to it, it’s really figured out its ecosystem. I had the Hamburger Helper. I’d never had it before! It slapped. This was a bougie version of it, but I do think at any tier it would be pretty sick. My parents are Panamanian, and I’m first-gen American, so Hamburger Helper just didn’t translate to our house. I remember my mom thinking some things were just not our culture.