Taylor Swift Revealed the ‘Girls’ Character She Saw Herself As

When Taylor Swift moved to New York, she became obsessed with Girls, Lena Dunham’s show about twenty-somethings in Brooklyn. She loved the show so much that she said she could label all her friends as one of the characters. Swift also identified with one of the characters, though Dunham disagreed with her. 

Taylor Swift said she identified most with this character from ‘Girls’ 

When Swift was in her early twenties, she became obsessed with Girls. She said she thought about the show often enough that she could label each of her friends as one of the four principal characters.

“I could label all my girlfriends as Shoshannas, Jessas, Marnies, or Hannahs,” she told Rolling Stone in 2014. 

She also put a great deal of thought into which character most aligned with her personality.

“I’ve thought about this a lot,” she said. “I’m Shoshanna.”

She explained why she saw herself as Shoshanna, played by Zosia Mamet.

“Shoshanna gets excited about things, she’s really girly. And when she was in a relationship that was very comfortable, she made the decision to get out and go experience new things on her own,” she said. “And now she’s becoming more sure of herself and taking life head-on, in a way that I can relate to. Even though I’ve never accidentally smoked crack at a warehouse party and run pantsless through Brooklyn.” 

She befriended the show’s creator, Lena Dunham

To Swift’s delight, when she went to follow Dunham on Twitter, she discovered that the actor and writer had posted positively about her. This began a friendship between them.

“I was really scared she was being ironic, but I decided to follow her anyway, just in case. Within five minutes I had a direct message from her. Let me see if I still have it,” she said. “I still have it! She said, ‘I am so excited about the prospect of being friends with you that I added the adjective best in front of it.’ ‘The idea that you like my show is so thrilling, and I can’t wait to lavish you with praise in person.’”

She kept a rack of white nightgowns in her home after she and Dunham bonded over their love of them.

“This is a thing me and Lena have,” she said. “We wear them during the day and look like pioneer women, fresh off the Oregon Trail.”

Swift has also frequently collaborated with Jack Antonoff, Dunham’s former boyfriend.

Lena Dunham said she saw her friend as a mix of two different characters

For what it’s worth, Dunham herself didn’t view Swift as a Shoshanna. Instead, she saw her friend as a mix of two other characters, albeit without some of their less favorable traits.

“Hannah, minus the horrid sexual behavior,” she said. “Or Marnie, if she wasn’t an a**hole.”