Lena Dunham claims Girls co-star Adam Driver got engaged only one month after nearly hooking up with her

Lena Dunham has claimed she and Adam Driver nearly shared an intimate exchange just a month before he got engaged to his now-wife Joanne Tucker.

The Girls star, 39, said in her new memoir Famesick that she and her co-star Driver, 42, were spending much time with one another rehearsing - and conversing in a manner that bordered on flirtatious - prior to his engagement announcement.

On the show created by and starring Dunham, her character Hannah Horvath was in an on-off relationship with Driver's character Adam Sackler throughout all six seasons from 2012-2017 starting when Dunham was 25, and Driver was 28. 

The wild new claim comes after Dunham alleged Driver threw a chair in her direction and punched a hole in the wall in meltdowns on the set of Girls.

Dunham writes in her memoir that Driver and her grew closer when Tucker, now 43, was out of town working on a play. 

'That week ... he came over almost every night,' Dunham claims. 'I was still frail and fawning, a careful and terrified version of myself - and maybe he liked me most that way. 

Lena Dunham, 39, claims she and Adam Driver, 42, nearly shared an intimate exchange just a month before he got engaged to Joanne Tucker. Pictured Tuesday in NYC

Lena Dunham, 39, claims she and Adam Driver, 42, nearly shared an intimate exchange just a month before he got engaged to Joanne Tucker. Pictured Tuesday in NYC 

Dunham described Driver (pictured last month in NYC) as 'a very talented, charismatic, complex, and powerful person'

Dunham described Driver (pictured last month in NYC) as 'a very talented, charismatic, complex, and powerful person'

'Maybe it made his heart go out to me, or maybe it just leveled the balance of power.'

Dunham said Driver told her, 'You still home alone, Dunham. Okay. I'm riding down to you. But I'm warning you, if I come up, I'm not leaving this time.'

Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for both parties for further comment on the story and has yet to hear back.

Dunham wrote that she replied, 'Call me when you're outside,' but stopped short at answering the door upon his arrival. 

'It felt as simple as ignoring your doorbell, as pretending to be asleep, as impossible as stopping your blood from flowing,' Dunham said. 'But some part of me knew-some wise part of me, some bold part of me-that if we crossed whatever boundary we were threatening to cross, the return to work would be tinged with humiliation.'

She said she felt she'd 'be minimizing any authority I still had, and that, however it went, my heart-bruised but improbably not yet broken-would crack.'

Dunham said Driver subsequently told her, 'When my girl was away, I realized I'm no good alone. I need someone to keep me in line.'

Dunham recalled her thoughts when Driver revealed he was getting engaged after their previous intense interactions. 

'It was absurd to be heartbroken, to have thought I meant anything, that I occupied any role beyond distraction,' she said. 'I was his scene partner, sure - and so when we were in a scene, his attention was piercing, his presence all-consuming.

'But in life? It would never be me who kept him in line. I didn't have the chops. Even at work, I couldn't do it, in the one place I was meant to make the rules.'

The incident occurred a month before Driver got engaged to Joanne Tucker, Dunham said. Pictured 2019 in Hollywood, California

The incident occurred a month before Driver got engaged to Joanne Tucker, Dunham said. Pictured 2019 in Hollywood, California

The actress has alleged the Academy Award nominee threw a chair at a wall next to her, punched a hole in his trailer wall, and screamed in her face during their days working on the HBO series together - seen as Hannah Horvath and Adam Sackler on Girls

The actress has alleged the Academy Award nominee threw a chair at a wall next to her, punched a hole in his trailer wall, and screamed in her face during their days working on the HBO series together - seen as Hannah Horvath and Adam Sackler on Girls

Dunham made some explosive claims about Driver as she wrote that he was 'spectacularly rude' to her - she is pictured April 2026

Dunham made some explosive claims about Driver as she wrote that he was 'spectacularly rude' to her - she is pictured April 2026

Now Dunham has claimed that Driver was 'spectacularly rude' to her according to memoir Famesick.

She addressed the claims about Driver in a recent interview with The Guardian as she said: 'At the time, I didn’t have the skill to… it never entered my mind to say, "I am your boss, you can’t speak to me this way." 

'And, at that point in my 20s, I still thought that’s what great male geniuses do: eviscerate you. Which is weird, because I was raised by a male genius who would never do that.'

Dunham also wrote that Driver told her as they filmed their final scene: 'I hope you know I’ll always love you.'

She said of the professional parting: 'Who knows ... maybe I’d write him new parts. We would tell new stories.

'We would laugh at the way things had been, and smile at the way they were now. But I never heard from him again.'

Dunham also wrote about an 'intimate, confusing and primal' unscripted moment during the filming of a Girls sex scene on the first season of the HBO series.

'Careful blocking went out the window,' the Emmy-nominated star wrote, adding that Driver 'hurled me this way and that' way as they played the respective roles of Hannah Horvath and Adam Sackler.

Dunham has been busy promoting her memoir as she was seen leaving The Today Show studio in New York City on Wednesday

Dunham has been busy promoting her memoir as she was seen leaving The Today Show studio in New York City on Wednesday

She was all smiles as she waved to her fans

She was all smiles as she waved to her fans

Dunham, who created, wrote and directed on the series, said that she was mentally jumbled in the wake of the passionate exchange with her co-star.

'Stunned, I couldn't speak for a moment, unsure of what had happened - had I lost directorial authority, allowed the scene to go off the rails, not given proper instructions?' Dunham wrote. 

Dunham said she wondered if HBO higher-ups would take note of the indiscretion during production, as she asked herself, 'Would I be removed from my command post immediately?' 

Dunham made clear that her focus was not on Driver crossing any boundaries with her, but rather her loss of control as the creative in charge of the scene.

Dunham opened up about her personal and professional dealings with Driver in her new memoir Famesick

Dunham opened up about her personal and professional dealings with Driver in her new memoir Famesick

Driver and Dunham played the respective roles of Hannah Horvath and Adam Sackler on Girls

Driver and Dunham played the respective roles of Hannah Horvath and Adam Sackler on Girls 

'It wasn't that I felt violated - and I also wouldn't know if I had, as there was little in my sexual life that I hadn't allowed to happen, and for no pay,' Dunham said. 'But I felt that something intimate, confusing and primal had played out in a scenario I was meant to control.'

Dunham told People on Tuesday that she included revealing stories about Driver in her book to illustrate how he helped her own development as an artist.

'It was an attempt to capture that [working relationship] in an honest way,' Dunham said, 'and also really talk about how much being around this very talented, charismatic, complex, and powerful person affected me in ways that were really positive and in ways that were a bit harder.'

She said it was not her intent to position Driver as the outlier of the show, but just to talk about how complex and confusing those first experiences of trying to be a boss were.'

Dunham told the magazine that the buzzy show, which ran from 2012-2017, provided important learning experiences for both her and Driver.

'For better or worse it was all of our first jobs,' Dunham said. 'I think Adam went on a very specific ride because he had the ride of the show and then also the ride of becoming a major movie star at the same time.

'So he was on these two tracks, and he's a very, very serious work-focused private person. So I have a lot of empathy for that.'

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