From executive producers Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner, and based on the British series of the same name that was created by Julia Davis, the HBO comedy series Camping follows the obsessively organized and controlling Kathryn (Jennifer Garner), who puts together what she thinks will be a delightful camping trip to celebrate her husband Walt’s (David Tennant) 45th birthday. Pretty quickly after arriving, this group’s bonds become tested, and the heightened emotions and tension that arise at the Brown Bear Lake campsite threaten to ruin the weekend. The series also stars Juliette Lewis, Ione Skye, Brett Gelman, Janicza Bravo, Arturo Del Puerto and Chris Sullivan.
During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actress/creator Lena Dunham talked about what spoke to her with the original series, putting together such a great cast for the U.S. version, why she ultimately decided not to act in it herself or direct any of the episodes, and her hope that Jennifer Garner’s character can really help give people a sense of what it’s like to live with chronic pain. She also talked about whether she’d be game for a Girls movie, working with Quentin Tarantino on Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, and making sure that her voice is properly represented.
Collider: Camping is a lot of fun. Because I’ve never gone camping and likely never will, it’s entertaining to watch other people suffer through it. When you saw the original series, what did you see in it that spoke to you? What did you instantly feel like you could add to it, in adapting it for the States?
LENA DUNHAM: I think that we just loved the isolation of the setting and the complexity of putting people into that world together.
Did you immediately start thinking about people that you could cast in these roles?
DUNHAM: Yeah. It was really fun. It’s infinitely castable ‘cause most of this entire thing is about performances. It’s not like there’s anything to conceive or back it up. Jen [Garner] was someone that we obviously wanted. When we wrote this, we knew that we’d need somebody who could humanize it and give it a sweetness, and Jen was that. She’s an incredibly complicated and interesting person, who people wanna cast as America’s sweetheart ‘cause she’s great at it.
But you saw something in her that you knew you could bring out with this?
DUNHAM: 100%.
Did you ever consider acting in this series yourself, at all, or did you just want to stay behind the scenes on it?
DUNHAM: I did, but it didn’t necessarily feel like I had that much to offer, in that department. The characters are a little bit older, which was really interesting to me, and I wanted to honor that. She’s a mother, and I wanted to honor that. I was also really sick, at the time. I was able to be on set, a few weeks ago, doing the Quentin Tarantino movie (Once Upon A Time in Hollywood), but I was really recovering, at the time that we shot the show. It’s been a really positive thing, watching somebody else do it.
At the same time, had you ever thought about directing any of the episodes, or were you just more interested in being a writer/producer on it?
DUNHAM: For me, it was always about being a writer/producer. I think Jenni [Konner] is an amazing director, and I wanted to support her vision. And then, after she had started, I was there to support her. Writing for these people was such an honor.
At the same time, because this is your last project with Jenni Konner as your producing partner, does it give you a sense of satisfaction that you guys are parting ways on a project that you both love and are proud of, and that you’re ending that relationship on a high note?
DUNHAM: 100%. We’re both proud of it, and it’s interesting and complicated. It honors what we’ve always done, which is make things that make people talk.
What are the advantages and what are the challenges, in telling a story that you have only eight episodes and four hours to tell it in? Did you ever wish that you had more, or did this feel like it was a good amount of time?
DUNHAM: This felt like it was exactly perfect. HBO gave us the perfect slot to do this.
You’ve obviously been very open about the pain that you deal with, in your own life. Do you hope that seeing what Jennifer Garner’s character goes through in this will help to give people who don’t deal with chronic pain a better understanding of what it’s like to cope with that?
DUNHAM: I sure do. I really do. I think it’s something that can really give people a sense of the emotional complexity of it, and that’s really interesting to me.
When you put together such a great cast for this, were you ever tempted to try to find a way to get these people back together for a second season, whether it’s another camping trip or you rename the series Luxury Vacation?
DUNHAM: It’s one season. I love that it was just a season. It was so fun. They’re amazing together.
You’ve said that you’re not personally big on camping or the outdoors, but do you like to do anything to just get away and unplug, even if it’s indoors or in a nice hotel?
DUNHAM: I love to shut down. I wouldn’t wanna do it in the woods, but I love doing it.
Since all of the behind-the-scenes footage shows a lot of smiling and laughing, it seems like everybody had a lot of fun on this set. If we ever got to see the blooper reel for this series, what would be your favorite moment that would likely be on it?
DUNHAM: I just love how much David [Tennant] and Jennifer [Garner] made each other giggle. That’s the most incredible thing. I love it. I always think people do better work, when they feel cozy enough to goof around, and they’re so good and goofy together.
Do you feel that because Kathryn is a character that it’s hard to get to know, initially, on this show, because she has so many things that are going on? Does it feel like by the end of this season, we’ll have a better understanding of her?
DUNHAM: I hope so. I think the place that she gets to is beautiful. It’s stunning, where she arrives.
I hear that this season just gets crazier, in the second half.
DUNHAM: Yeah it does. It gets really nuts. It literally gets so nuts. You’ll be like, “Oh, we’re really not in Kansas anymore.”
It seems as though a lot of the TV shows that have been coming back, in the last few years, have done so because they just didn’t feel like they were finished. Do you feel like Girls would ever be fit for a reunion of some sort, or would you want to do a movie, down the line?
DUNHAM: I’d love to do something in movie form, but I’d love to give it some time. It’s like a little novel, and we told a little novel story.
Living in Los Angeles, it’s been fun to stumble across some of the locations for the Quentin Tarantino movie that you worked on. What was it like to be a part of that and to work with him?
DUNHAM: Oh, it was amazing! It was totally mind-bending. What an insane and beautiful experience. Watching him on set is so joyful and the world is so precise. I learned so much. I loved it!
What can you say about the character that you play in that?
DUNHAM: The character that I play is really a kook. She’s a crazy woman because she was a follower of Charles Manson. That’s my favorite kind of character to play, to be honest.
Are you someone who is always thinking about the next thing that you could be working on?
DUNHAM: Yeah, I just work non-stop. I’m always going. I’m never not going.
As a woman who is still in a predominantly male industry, when did you feel like your voice was being heard? Was that something that you felt like you had to fight for, or do you feel that there were people who helped lift you up, along the way?
DUNHAM: I still feel like I have to fight for it. I really do. I feel like I have to push, so that my voice is heard correctly, and to make sure that it’s not corralled and turned into something that it isn’t. I feel like I have to make sure that I’m not willfully misrepresented.
Do you find that there are ways that you can ensure that will happen?
DUNHAM: I just find as much as I can be my own unfiltered voice to be better. When women do speak, we assign them intentions that aren’t theirs.
Do you have any idea what you might work on next?
DUNHAM: I’m always thinking about it. I have a few things that I’m not quite in a position to share yet, but they feel good.
Are those TV or film projects?
DUNHAM: I have both. It’s just about seeing what comes together first.
What do you like about exploring characters that you can live with a bit longer, as opposed to characters you play within a self-contained period of time for a movie?
DUNHAM: I love that TV allows us to really know people. I remember the moment in Girls where we found out that Marnie lost her virginity at 14, and Allison [Williams] and I had a fight about whether that seemed realistic, but it was like such a pleasure to say. When you have time, you can slowly unwrap characters and show who they are, in a way that’s interesting and complex. You can reveal their middle name, three seasons in, and I love that. But I also love telling tight little stories.
Camping airs on Sunday nights on HBO.
