‘Too Much’ Stars Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe Unpack That Finale Wink

[This story contains major spoilers from the first season of Too Much.]

Lena Dunham wants to make one thing clear: Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe, the stars of her buzzy new Netflix romantic dramedy series Too Much, are not playing Dunham and her husband, musician Luis Felber.

While the basic premise was pulled from their own lives — an American woman moves to England in search of a fresh start and meets and falls in love with a British musician — Dunham and Felber, who created Too Much together, stressed that they used their own love story as a jumping-off point for the former’s long-awaited return to television.

“We feel really, really lucky that we got to do this together, and then of course the actors come in and the characters become different because the actors have taken over,” Dunham told The Hollywood Reporter at the Tribeca Film Festival last month. “So while the germ of it may be autobiographical, it’s gone in directions I never could’ve dreamed.”

For Stalter, a stand-up comedian who became a go-to scene stealer on Hacks, Too Much proved to be an unexpected gift from Dunham, who wrote the female protagonist with Stalter’s voice in mind after discovering her videos on TikTok. “I’ve always been so interested and wanted to do more dramatic stuff, so this was just a dream role. It felt like stepping into something different — really exciting and sometimes challenging,” Stalter tells THR.

In Too Much, Stalter stars as Jessica Salmon, a New Yorker in her mid-30s who, in the midst of recovering from a bad break-up, agrees to take a job in London assisting filmmakers working on commercials. While her dreams of falling into a romantic British fantasy à la Jane Austen novels are quickly upended, Jessica finds herself immediately drawn to Felix Remen (Sharpe), a grunge musician performing at a local pub one evening.

Both parties come to this new romance with their own personal baggage. Jessica’s last partner picked at her worst insecurities and then left her for a younger influencer (played by Emily Ratajkowski); Felix, a recovering addict with a propensity for falling back into bed with ex-partners, was neglected by his parents and sexually abused by a nanny as a child. The 10-episode first season explores whether Jessica and Felix can overcome their respective pasts and worst impulses to make their relationship work.

Below, Stalter and Sharpe open up about how they worked with Dunham to develop their onscreen connection, why their characters’ emotional baggage ultimately makes their relationship stronger — and why they think that finale was not the end of the story for the two lovebirds.

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Given that the inspiration for this series came from a really personal place, what kinds of conversations did you each have with Lena before and after signing on, and how did those discussions inform how you approached these characters?

MEGAN STALTER Since it’s so inspired by their relationship but it’s not a documentary, I actually did have a lot of questions of what parts she related to personally. When I’m doing a character, I always think about what ways I’m similar or different, so I wanted to know that about Lena and Jessica. We had a lot of conversations about that, but it also felt so free. There was no pressure to do an impression of them, but it was inspiring to be around them.

WILL SHARPE Our first conversations were about the fictionalized world of the show. So right from the start, it was like: These characters are not Lena and Lu. The germ of the idea comes from a personal place, but she’s writing a story and was very encouraging of us to make these characters our own, which they already were on the page. She’s so good at tailoring parts to the actor; she’s so curious about everyone.

In my first meeting with her, I was noticing things that were similar. She’d written Felix as mixed-race [like I am], because Lu is half-Peruvian. And it just so happened that Lu moved to England at 8, which is exactly when I moved from Japan to England. I was noticing little similarities and then it felt like [she was] trying to dig into, “But how would you shape it? What would interest you? What would be rewarding for you?”

SLATER The things that I find in Jessica are some things that I find in myself and Lena, too. We both related over falling in love with people who are way different than us. When I met her, we just clicked and I felt like I had known her forever. We’re both very emotionally attached to our animals, and so is Jessica. There’s a lot that the three of us have in common.

So much of the success of any show — but especially a romantic dramedy — lies in the chemistry between the leads. Did you two do a chemistry read?

SHARPE No. We both were talking to Lena about this from really early on. I think the first thing I read was an outline for the show, not scripts yet, and then the scripts started being written. What was helpful was that we didn’t over-rehearse either; we had a day or two of rehearsal. We’d met briefly once in L.A. but by chance, and then met properly at [production company] Working Title on a rehearsal day.

[To Stalter] But I didn’t know that much about you as a person or what you were like when we started filming. I felt like because the characters are getting to know each other, that maybe brought a helpful tension to those scenes where we also were still trying to figure each other out.

STALTER Lena’s so good at casting. She’s so good at writing her characters and knowing them. I remember when I was being told that you [to Sharpe] were the dream person she wanted, too.

SHARPE Same.

STALTER So I think she just knew, and I am such a fan of Will’s. I trusted Lena that we would have chemistry. We clicked right away when we started filming.

SHARPE Tthe show is sort of about them trying to figure out if there is chemistry.

STALTER Exactly.

SHARPE Also just the fact that I knew you were funny from watching Hacks. Having a sense of humor is so helpful in creating a safe environment, so if there ever was anything that’s like, “How are we going to figure this out?” Knowing that we could have a laugh about it was always really helpful.

STALTER I feel the same. I felt comfortable to be funny, but I didn’t know how crazy I could be. And then I realized when we started filming that you like when I’m acting strange. (Laughs.)

What do you think Jessica and Felix saw in each other that drew them to each other in the first place, and why do they keep coming back together, in spite of the baggage that they both bring to the relationship?

STALTER I always think when people say, “opposites attract,” it’s because you’re seeing something in that person that you want for yourself. Felix is cool in a different way than Jessica is. They’re so different. So we even said when Felix is comfortable, he’s talking a lot. When Jessica’s uncomfortable, she talks a lot. And then when she’s comfortable, she’s quieter. They’re kind of opposites; they balance each other. Do you agree?

SHARPE Yeah. I remember asking a similar question in the first episode. They’ve had that awkward moment on the sofa — it was one of the first things we filmed — he’s left the flat and he’s listening to music. I remember asking Lena, “What do you think? Is there a specific thing that makes him turn around?” She was like, “I think it’s just a feeling, and maybe there was something there that is drawing him back.” They both do have baggage and they’re both trying to start a new chapter in their lives, but maybe there’s just a sort of “humanness” or something they feel like, “There is something that we have in common, in spite of all the differences.” Maybe it’s something to do with that vulnerability in the end.

STALTER Ultimately, they accept one another. Jessica’s falling for Felix because she’s realizing she’s “too much,” but he likes it and thinks it’s a good thing. Jessica’s ex hated the differences that they had, and it seems like Felix is charmed by them.

SHARPE They’re very accepting of all parts of each other, not just the things that they’re happy to present. I found it really moving when she sings him a lullaby in episode [seven] where you start to realize why his defenses are so high. I remember us trying to calibrate, “How hard can Felix push Jess away?” But Jess keeps coming towards [him]. Even when Felix is like, “Get away from me. You don’t want to know what this is. I don’t want you to see this. I don’t want you to know this about me.” Jess keeps coming. And the fact that she doesn’t judge him for it — if anything, all of those things about each other make them love each other more. I guess that is how strong relationships are built; it’s finding out the things that people are frightened of, or ashamed of, or whatever it is.

Felix has a habit of sleeping with all kinds of women and keeping his emotions really bottled up, so Will, I’d imagine that some of the calibration you were talking about had to do with figuring out where Felix is on the emotional spectrum at any given time. What do you think Felix is really looking for? How did you think about the internal side of the character beyond what he is externalizing with his behavior?

SHARPE I think he wants to feel safe, but he’s moved through life in a way and has learned to operate in a way that he’s guarded from reality. So he presents as cool, but actually, his defenses are pretty high. I remember us talking about those compulsions — the addiction, all of the behaviors that are there to mask his deeper feelings and the feelings he’s frightened of. Working with Lena, we were like, “We should probably really let that stuff get in the way of the relationship.” I remember saying, “However far you want to go with any of these stories, I’m down for that. Let’s make it hard for them. The more they have to fight through to get back to each other, I feel like the more it’ll mean.”

I love that he fucks up a lot and makes mistakes like, “Hey, I’m trying to stay clean and I’m trying to be a better person.” If you just manage that [completely], what’s the story? So all of those parts of both characters — the weaknesses, the flaws and broken parts — that’s ultimately what made us feel protective of them.

There’s an episode that takes place throughout one late night in Jessica’s apartment with Felix, where there is a mix of sex scenes and pillow talk. How did you think about deepening the sense of intimacy between your characters over the course of the season, and what do you think can be revealed about each of them through the way they interact behind closed doors?

SHARPE It was such a bold script, and fair play to Netflix for going with a two-hander night interior. It’s a testament to Lena’s writing and directing that it really sustains, and somehow she captured that really hard to explain feeling of when you first met someone and there’s a quiet giddiness and you’re revealing a little bit of yourself, but not too much. Time warps, and suddenly a whole night has disappeared and you’re not quite sure how. But like we’ve been saying, she made us feel really secure and approached those scenes with a tenderness. So we’d run it a few times and get it in our bones, and Lena would be massaging and playing around with it, and sometimes she’d let us play around with it. So by the time we were shooting, it felt like we were in that space. Is that fair to say?

STALTER Yeah, it felt so realistic, and it’s all in the writing. Lena’s such a confident, incredible director and writer that she knew it was going to feel like that. That is what it feels like when you meet someone, and you’re like, “Wait, am I going to marry this person?” (Laughs.) And then you’re like, “Wait, I don’t know them!” It’s just that long night where you don’t want to go to sleep, but you’re like, “We have to go to sleep.” The dialogue is just so good and realistic. They’re talking about everything —

SHARPE Everything and nothing. (Laughs.)

A lot has changed since Girls when it comes to filming sex scenes; some of Lena’s former co-stars have even spoken about how valuable an intimacy coordinator would have been when working on the show a decade ago. What did you make of your experience of working with an intimacy coordinator on Too Much?

STALTER It was so helpful. I’ve never done scenes like that. Our intimacy coordinator, Miriam [Lucia], has been so amazing. I felt so safe with her and Lena and Will, and it was so helpful for me to know exactly what was going to happen for exactly how long, and what the scene was supposed to be.

SHARPE They made it very easy for us and just broke it all down. Lena’s knows, “I only need this shot for seven seconds, and we do it once, maybe one more time.” And then the cumulative impact of those shots and how it feels in the show is different to how it felt for us. It was just very clinical, in a way.

STALTER We never overshot anything. She knows exactly what she needs.

Were you both prepared for the amount of discourse about the spit scene alone in the trailer? Whose idea was it for Felix to spit in Jess’ mouth?

STALTER Well, that was in the script.

SHARPE Yeah, in the script.

STALTER That was not something I really thought about because I thought it’s just such a short, quick moment, and people need to get over it. If they kiss, then there’s spit. [Sharpe laughs.]

SHARPE I only found out about this through you guys. You were like, “Do you know about this?” And I was like, “About what?” (Laughs.)

STALTER Then there’s a headline, and he was like, “Wait, what?” Anyway … if people are kissing, they’re spitting!

Music is such a key part of Too Much, in part because of how central it was to Lena and Luis’ — and now Jessica and Felix’s — love story. Will, did you have any say in the songs that Felix sings in the show? Had you sung onscreen before?

SHARPE I don’t think I’ve sung onscreen before, but I played in bands as a teenager in that sort of high school garage band way, and worked closely with Lu on his music. They’re all his songs, which I really loved and did have a say in. So there were probably about 10 songs that we were looking at and would try to figure out, “What are the ones that I feel most confident playing?” Sometimes we would adapt them a — I would simplify the guitar slightly or play in a slightly different way — so I knew I could sing it and play at the same time. We pushed to do as much of it live as we could, which hopefully gives it just a slightly rawer, messier kind of realism than if it’s super polished but completely bogus.

The biggest thing was the song in the final episode originally was a solo piece on the guitar. I pitched to put that on the piano, partly because I’m stronger on the piano, but also I wondered if it would be interesting to see this guy with all his grungy front be super vulnerable. We moved it to a different key to try and push my voice into a place where it was slightly less comfortable, again for the same reasons. But I loved that part of it. Some of it was pretty scary, but Lu was very supportive and helpful, and so was his producer, Matt. Also, we would have actual band rehearsals, and Prasanna [Puwanarajah] learned to play the drums in two days. It was amazing.

What parts of himself is Felix able to access through music that he isn’t necessarily able to access in everyday conversations?

SHARPE I love that question. It was really interesting playing a character where some of what he’s expressing is through music, not through dialogue and what he’s saying. There’s that scene where he is like, “Well, sometimes I find music quite a helpful way to make sense of stuff.” I do think there’s an extent to which Jess is so forthcoming with her feelings and so expressive with words, and even in the big fight that we have in the final episode, part of Felix’s frustration is that he doesn’t know how to express himself in that way. So some of what’s being held in may be coming out in his songs, and I love the lyrics in his song in the final episode. I think that’s such a beautiful song that Lu wrote.

Meg, Lena’s crowning achievement, Girls, was known for its frank and sometimes controversial depiction of young womanhood, and the discourse around that show was very much a microcosm of this larger cultural conversation about the complexity of female characters and how likeable audiences need or want them to be. Given that Too Much is a Lena Dunham show, and you are playing a character who could come across as polarizing to some viewers, how do you feel about the fact that Jessica could be the next female protagonist to be at the center of those conversations?

STALTER Lena does such an amazing job writing characters that just feel real. That’s how people are in real life. No one’s just all likable all the time, and I really am drawn to material like that and find that such an incredible part of this story. People have already done that with me on Hacks. People say, “Oh my God, we’re obsessed with Kayla.” Or, “oh my God, she’s the most annoying character.”

SHARPE Do you want me to murder them? (Laughs.)

STALTER Will’s really angry about that. I don’t ever really care about what people think online, so it’s just interesting to me to hear. Also, I’ve been a standup for so long. I’ve been in rooms where nobody’s liked my comedy.

SHARPE If no one’s liked your comedy, no one’s liked mine. (Laughs.) But also, the show is about that, isn’t it? The show is about, “Don’t be afraid to be yourself. You’ll always find your people that you click with and that you connect with, and why should you hide away?” So, yeah, I feel like the show is already dealing with that conversation.

STALTER And imagine if [on] Girls, all the characters were really nice, sweet people in every scene. It’d be so boring. You love to watch shows where you’re kind of angry at the character and then you love them again. I think it’s so cool. I mean, it’s what I want to watch.

The first season ends with Jessica and Felix getting married, but that does not necessarily mean that they will live happily ever after. What would you both be most looking forward to exploring in a potential second season?

SHARPE I guess that’s a question for Lena. I know she’s thinking about it and has ideas. I was about to just make some stupid things up. (Laughs.)

Please feel free!

STALTER That would be so funny, if you have a full storyline. Lena’s writing is so surprising. [With] Girls, every season was so different, and you’re like, “I could have never predicted that happening.” So that’s what I would be excited to see — her ideas and thoughts about where they could be. Because obviously, it’s not the end when you get married; it’s not all of a sudden like everything’s easy and perfect now, and nothing’s happening.

SHARPE There’s a line that [Will’s] like, “How long should we stay married?”

STALTER And [Jessica’s] like, “Wait, you’re kidding, right?”

SHARPE I think that’s because Lena wanted to just wink at the audience and slightly undercut the kind of perfect ending and just be like, “Let’s see how this goes.” So the spirit of that mystery, I suppose, is there in the ending.

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Too Much is now streaming on Netflix.