The Power of the Uncomfortable: Jennette McCurdy and Lena Dunham at Town Hall

Jennette McCurdy is back.

Her memoir, boldly titled I’m Glad My Mom Died, took the world by storm in 2022—selling out within a day of release, landing on the New York Times bestseller list, earning rave reviews, and selling over three million copies. Deeply incisive and unflinching, the book chronicles her experience as a child star and her fraught relationship with her mother, holding up a mirror to some of the world’s worst realities—narcissism, abuse, eating disorders, what have you—with grace, humor, and lived-in prose.

Now, she’s back—and she’s not shying away from the uncomfortable.

Her new book, Half His Age, is a fiction novel about a 17-year-old girl who becomes involved with her much older, married creative writing teacher. On January 20, McCurdy sat down with Lena Dunham at Town Hall for a wide-ranging conversation about the book and the ideas behind it.

Lena felt like a fitting counterpart for the evening: a creative with a similarly unflinching narrative voice, deeply interested in the female experience; a writer whose characters may not be “likable,” but always feel real. She opened the conversation by asking Jennette how it felt to move into fiction after writing a memoir. McCurdy revealed she had already been deep into another novel when the idea for Half His Age came to her during a solo trip to Japan. She immediately paused the earlier project and began working on this one instead. She told the audience that she writes for herself, not for an audience—by accessing her own feelings, particularly rage, the work resonates more honestly than if she were trying to engineer a reaction.

Courtesy: Sachlyn Mital

For the writing nerds in the room, there was plenty to savor. McCurdy and Dunham discussed being a “plotter” versus a “pantser.” Plotters meticulously outline a story before writing, often refining a single draft. Pantsers write draft after draft until the story reveals itself. McCurdy identified as a pantser, sharing that Half His Age went through roughly twenty drafts. Writing, for her, is about play and exploration. Dunham echoed this sentiment, describing a lightbulb moment when she realized there is no “proper” way to write.

While Lena and Jennette share Hollywood DNA, much of the conversation focused on Hollywood’s shortcomings. McCurdy said she prefers books as a medium and often finds herself confused by the conventions of Hollywood Zoom calls, where it’s rarely clear what anyone actually wants. Dunham likened this to the way Hollywood talks about women’s stories, noting how executives now ask whether a female character is “rootable”—a euphemism for likable and not difficult.

But both women traffic comfortably in the gray areas of “difficult.” McCurdy shared that much of her writing comes from anger, tapping into deep wells of female rage. That anger, perhaps, is what allows her to access the darker, more nuanced corners of reality in her work—confusing sexuality with power, the politics of desire, the intersection of gender and aging. Dunham mentioned that a romantasy-only bookstore had opened near her London home, and while she loved the joy it brought readers, she admitted her curse was being drawn instead to books that explore the darker parts of characters and life itself.

Her respect for McCurdy was evident, making the conversation feel easy and generous. The two connected effortlessly—playing, joking, and engaging with the audience. Dunham observed that many readers may have initially picked up McCurdy’s memoir because of her past as a child star, but that she has now been fully recontextualized as a writer first. The room radiated warmth: a crowd of bookish people eager to hear from an emerging literary talent. Everywhere you looked, young women filled the seats—grateful for a writer willing to grapple with the uncomfortable realities of their shared experience.

McCurdy also revealed that Half His Age has already been adapted into a screenplay. With her memoir currently in development at Apple TV, it’s worth holding tight for what comes next. For now, though, it’s an exciting time to be a fan of her work.

Join in. Half His Age is available now.

Courtesy: Sachlyn Mital