October 14, 2026, 2:41 p.m. ET
NEW YORK – Allison Williams is calm before the news breaks.
It’s October 13, and in a few hours the internet will be abuzz with the surprising news that a “Girls” reboot is coming to HBO. But right now, in a room at the 1 Hotel Central Park overlooking Manhattan’s iconic green space, Williams is laughing, sitting on a plush couch with a blanket and flanked by Baked by Melissa cupcakes.
The actress is having a moment.
She returned for “M3GAN 2.0” in 2025, in which she reprized her role as Gemma and also served as a producer, and recently finished filming “Homewrecker,” a survival thriller that further widened its genre canyon to sci-fi.
And as she sat down with USA TODAY to talk about her “Girls” character, her friendships and her journey with eczema, another chapter in her career was about to begin.
For the “Girls” reboot, Williams is set to reprise the role of Marnie, alongside Lena Dunham’s character Hannah, Jemima Kirke’s Jessa, Zosia Mamet’s Shoshanna and Andrew Rannells’ Elijah, for five new episodes, with production scheduled for 2027.
The show, which followed the lives of a group of twenty-something friends as they navigated New York, aired for six seasons, from 2012 to 2017. It was nominated for 19 Emmy Awards and won two during its run.
“The fact that the macro things that we deal with in the show, the characters, the archetypes, the conversations, the conflicts, the relationships, that those things are all enduring enough to be relatable and a little nostalgic, is such an honor,” Williams said.
Marnie’s Generation Z Character Arc
Nearly a decade after “Girls” ended, its characters have found a second life online. The series has seen a cultural resurgence among Gen Z, whose relationship with it is shaped as much by TikToks and memes as by the series itself.
And, perhaps surprisingly, Marnie has won the sympathy of Generation Z, who seem to view her with more patience than their millennial predecessors.
“Oh, let’s make fun of the girl who took a risk and went for it creatively,” a line Marnie originally said in defense of a terrible music video she directed, has taken on new life as popular audio on TikTok. Marnie’s plot edits from “The Panic in Central Park” set in Charli XCX’s “Party 4 U” have racked up millions of views.
And really, is there a scarier TV character in recent memory than Marnie Michaels?
There was that time she took center stage at Hannah’s birthday party with a painful rendition of “Take Me or Leave Me.” Her “classic Laurel Canyon” wedding makeup that paid homage to her “cultural heritage, which is that of a white Christian woman.” And let’s not forget when she gave us that iconic rendition of Kanye West’s song “Stronger,” complete with the adlib “I could be your white Kate Moss tonight,” while accompanying her ex-boyfriend Charlie’s office party.
Marnie is status-obsessed, chronically nervous, and narcissistic.
“Honestly, it was so cathartic to play her,” Williams says. “It was so liberating to do the most embarrassing version of everything I was doing, but with 100% commitment and knowing that it was going to exist somewhere forever.”
When “Girls” aired, this commitment made Marnie the most hated character on the show. The Daily Beast in 2014 headlined an article titled “Is Marnie from ‘Girls’ the Worst Character on TV?” Comedian Bowen Yang shared that he and his roommate had a “Don’t Be a Marnie” sign in their apartment.
Williams remembers people approaching her on the streets of New York to tell her how much they hated her.
“In a way it was a compliment because she seemed so real to people that they had really big reactions to her,” Williams said.
These days, however, it seems like everyone is a Marnie. (Williams herself is between Marnie and Shosh, but “obviously a lifelong ambitious Jessa.”)
Marnie’s prioritization of her own success and her commitment to protecting her peace don’t seem so out of place in 2026.
Probably the most therapy- and mental health-educated generation in history, Generation Z has made work-life balance and self-care a top priority.
“I think for (Gen Z), you kind of say, if I’m not looking out for my best interest, I’m sorry, whose job is it other than mine? Michaels said. “Marnie was kind of early to that party in a way that people had a hard time watching, but it’s undeniable now.”
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Williams sees ‘girls’ and friendships differently now
In the decade since “Girls” ended, OG viewers noted that part of their disgust with Marnie may have been because she had adopted unlikable traits that they recognized in themselves, and over time, they found themselves looking back with more empathy.
Williams too.
“This funhouse mirror thing is so difficult in your 20s because you’re both who you are, but you’re also secretly still figuring it out,” Williams says.
The cast of “Girls” has been open about how audiences struggled to distinguish themselves from their characters during filming. Dunham talked about this a lot in “Famesick.”
“I’m more comfortable and aware of who I am now than when I did the show, and so I don’t feel like any closeness to Marnie could hurt me,” Williams said.
Part of that journey of self-awareness has included taking on new creative projects, becoming a mother — she and actor Alexander Dreymon have a son, Arlo, 4 — and partnering with Sanofi and Regeneron to speak out about her eczema issues.
As a child, she took oatmeal baths and sometimes wore mittens to bed to prevent scratching, and as an adult, she struggled with insecurity related to visible rashes and scratches before public appearances. When the problem recently spread to her scalp, she realized she needed a new solution and began treatment with Dupixent. She is now a spokesperson for the brand.
“I hadn’t thought about treating your skin issues, treating my eczema from the inside out. For me, it was always something I was going to treat topically. So the idea of my body treating it from the inside out was really kind of a mindset shift,” Williams says.
And the friendships that have been so crucial to “Girls” are ones that Williams maintains in her own life. She met Dunham last weekend in Connecticut with their families.
“We’re all closer now than we were in our 20s, and I think that’s because our 20s were spent figuring out who we were, and now we know we’ll spend the rest of our lives getting to know ourselves and each other,” Williams says.
Any adventurous woman wondering how the “Girls” characters will fare in modern times will have the chance to find out.
Let’s just hope Marnie hasn’t discovered TikTok’s comments sections.
Rachel Hale’s role covering youth mental health at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input. Contact her at rhale@usatoday.com and @rachelleighhale on X.
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