Meet Leo Reich, the Gen Z comedian starring in Lena Dunham’s Too Much: the Girls creator wrote the role just for him after viewing his comedy special, Literally Who Cares?!

Jul 15 , 2025

Meet Leo Reich, the Gen Z comedian starring in Lena Dunham’s Too Much. Photo: @leo_reich/Instagram

Reich faced struggles at high school due to his sexuality, which he turned into the foundation of his comedy – he was a member of the Cambridge Footlights and will soon head up a series on Channel 4

After the immense success of Lena Dunham’s 2012 HBO comedy drama, Girls, the writer, director and actor’s return to TV with Too Much has been highly anticipated.

The 10-part romantic comedy premiered on Netflix on July 10 and centres on thirty-something New Yorker Jessica (Megan Stalter), who takes a job in London after a bad break-up.

Leo Reich stars in Lena Dunham’s Too Much. Photo: @leo_reich/Instagram

The show’s cast includes well-established names like Will Sharpe and Emily Ratajkowski, but it’s breakout actor and comedian Leo Reich who had Dunham so impressed that she wrote a role in the show specifically for him.

Want to know more? Here’s the down low on Too Much’s Leo Reich.

Lena Dunham inspired his career in comedy

Reich is of Jewish descent and was born in August 1998 to his father, a film producer, and his mother, who works in education.

The 26-year-old, who identifies as gay, revealed in a 2023 interview with Metro Weekly that he had a hard time in high school due to his sexuality. Reich attended the City of London School, an elite private school for boys.

“My high school experience was really complicated. I had a really difficult time both on a sexuality level, but also just on an interpersonal level about feeling understood by people. And I think that’s probably what drew me to comedy – it’s an amazing way to be able to present to yourself in a way that can be understood and present a perspective,” Reich told the outlet.

Leo Reich credits his struggles in school as the source of his comedy. Photo: @arabbitsfoot/Instagram

In a more recent interview published by Altitude on July 9, Reich talked about watching Lena Dunham’s Girls at 13 and becoming inspired to pursue a career in comedy.

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