The romance series of the summer, Too Much, is about to hit Netflix with Megan Stalter landing the coveted gig as Lena Dunham’s next inimitable lead star.
The 10-episode show follows the endearing love story between two misfits – down-on-luck New Yorker Jessica and almost-sober rocker Felix on the streets of London that are a far cry from the romantic alleyways of Hugh Grant’s Notting Hill.
Created and directed by Dunham of Girls fame, the series offers an unapologetic look at the bravery it takes to start your life over again in your early 30s – and the ways in which the messiness turns into unexpected joy.
There’s kinky sex, soul-destroying pillow talk, teenage insecurities packaged in an adult body and a whole host of chaotic characters peppered throughout to push Jessica along her destined (and sometimes, not-so destined) path.
We’re talking a slightly deranged Andrew Scott and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel’s Michael Zegen playing yet another toxic, but maybe not so toxic, ex.
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(Just don’t expect a dashing Colin Firth to emerge from a lake in a dripping wet shirt and proclaim his undying love!)
But, who exactly is the star of this new show that we have no doubt will have people talking from the very start?
Who is Megan Stalter?
Megan Stalter is a 34-year-old actor from New York.
In her Glee-style fairytale, Stalter was born in Cleveland, Ohio and it was there that she first took to the stage to flex her improv and sketch comedy skills, before moving to Chicago where she carried on the comedic grind.
She first grew an audience with a series of comedy videos known as The Megan Stalter Show, in which she (attempts to) interview various characters (like her fake high school bullies) talk show style.
Yes, it’s as bonkers as you would imagine – and still available to watch online.
During the height of the pandemic, her stature grew tenfold after she started improvising various characters on her Instagram like a midwestern churchgoer complaining about fake cat ears on Halloween.
Some may recognise her from the widespread meme ‘hi gay!’
At the same time, she had made a name for herself in the New York comedy scene and was soon becoming the buzziest name on people’s lips.
She didn’t come by her newfound fame without hard work, however, telling the New York Times she would ‘take improv classes by myself for hours’.
Talking about what drew her to the profession, she told The Guardian in 2021: ‘On stage, you are fully Zen. It sounds cheesy, but that’s how I know this is what I’m meant to do.’
When talking about her unplanned viral fame, she added: ‘People ask all the time, “what does it feel like to blow up online during Covid?” And it’s really strange, because I was only doing it to feel alive and normal.
‘I wasn’t like: ‘Oh my God, I need attention,’ or trying to make my videos go viral. I just had to be silly online because there was nowhere else to do it.’
As for who she is as a person, Dunham had nothing but praise in a chat with Metro at the Too Much premiere.
‘Meg is her own incredible person, and she is so self-possessed.
‘I learned so much from her, and I wish I’d had her in my ear when I was on a show. She [is] just is so elegant and wise and funny, so she’s got it all covered,’ she said when asked about whether she offered any advice to the rising star.
Stalter, who identifies as bisexual, also has a girlfriend, Maddie Allen, who she has been in a relationship with since 2022. In social media posts, together she’s called her a ‘hot perfect girlfriend’.
During filming for one of her shows, she wore a Scorpio ring, which matches one she gave her girlfriend, who hails from that star sign.
‘It was a secret sign to show her that I was thinking of her in all of the scenes in the last show I did,’ she told the New York Times in 2024.
Who does Megan Stalter play in Netflix’s Too Much?
Her latest role is undoubtedly her biggest yet as the face of Too Much in which she plays Jessica, a 30-something who is both endlessly confident in herself and yet vulnerable to jealousy and the crippling paranoia of never achieving what your want with your life.
After her seven-year relationship with Zev (Michael) comes to an end, she packs her bags and heads to London to get a change of scenery and… maybe meet someone new.
Enter, steely on the outside, soft on the inside, Felix, who sweeps her off her feet the very first night.
In an interview with Metro, Stalter made clear that she has been a longtime Girls fan (a religious rewatcher), making this role all the more special so early on in an already flourishing career.
She said: ‘Working with Lena was my ultimate dream come true. She is just.. I love her so much.
‘I’m a huge Girls fan and it just felt like working with your best friend that you grew up with and who’s also the most talented and confident director, writer, actor, so it just felt like heaven.’
What is Netflix’s new show Too Much?
The Lena Dunham-created Netflix series drops all 10 episodes on July 10.
The official synopsis reads: ‘Too Much follows Jessica (Hack’s Megan Stalter), a workaholic New Yorker who, in the wake of a devastating breakup, heads across the pond only to meet her unexpected match in sleep-until-noon musician Felix (The White Lotus’ Will Sharpe).
‘Over 10 episodes, Jess learns that London — and love — are less like Notting Hill than she thought.’
There’s plenty to look forward to in the show as well, as Stalter shared.
‘You’re crying one second and laughing the next, you know. It is shocking when a show does that, but I wasn’t shocked because that’s Girls. You’re laughing, you’re crying.
‘The spit scene in the trailer, people were shocked over but they shouldn’t be because spitting is kissing, so get over it!’ she joked.
And if Sharpe’s ‘really great time working with Meg’ is anything to go by, you can expect off-the-charts chemistry between the pair.
‘It was such a lovely vibe on set and Lena led with a really warm spirit. Meg was such a brilliant scene partner, so funny and we were allowed to just play around with it sometimes and she’s just such a genius improviser,’ he added.
What else has Megan Stalter starred in?
For those wagging their finger at the screen going “hang on don’t I know her from somewhere?”, yes, you probably do.
Shortly after gaining internet fame, Stalter landed a role in the HBO series Hack about older comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) where she plays the mepo-baby assistant to Deborah’s talent agent.
‘The dream is to be on a show like Hacks, where you are with people that love to improv too,’ she once told Nylon about the atmosphere on set.
Elsewhere, she has starred as Isobel in Sometimes I Think About Dying, which starred Daisy Ridley and in 2023.
Finally, she starred in 2023’s Cora Bora in which she plays the titular Cora who attempts to win her girlfriend back to chaotic results.
Too Much lands on Netflix on July 10.
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