Lena Dunham: “SNL” “Girls” Spoof Was “One of the Best Things” Ever

“Girls” creator Lena Dunham will host “Saturday Night Live” for the first time this weekend, but the HBO star has already received the “SNL” treatment.

“SNL” spoofed “Girls” during the September season opener with Tina Fey playing a fifth cast member, an Albanian refugee Blerta who was grateful “for the roof over her head.”

Dunham, also a writer, producer and actress on “Girls,” said she was honored to have her show parodied.

"It was one of the best things that's ever happened to me," Dunham told “Today's” Savannah Guthrie.

In a mock “Girls” scene, Blerta, who has a rubber hand and wears a headscarf, tells Dunham’s character Hannah that she’s “weak and soft and dressed like baby” and doesn’t deserve her boyfriend Adam.

Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna’s problems also pale in comparison to Blerta’s horrific life experiences.

“My ex-boyfriend is an Internet millionaire,” Marnie complains to Hannah.

“My ex-boyfriend is buried in shallow grave,” Blerta responds.

"I was sitting there watching that, and I couldn't believe these people that I admired were even aware enough of my work to sort of construct this parody, which felt loving," Dunham said of the spoof. "I've always been all too aware that there are things to be made fun of in the show, and I thought they took such a smart approach."

Dunham was grateful that “SNL” chose to mock her characters’ superficial problems rather than focus on nudity that’s prevalent on the hit show.

"It wasn't nudity obsessed; it wasn't, you know, all about my weight," the 27-year-old said. "It was a really intelligent, thoughtful approach to 'Girls.' So not only did I feel grateful that I was spared, I felt excited it existed."

Dunham’s “SNL” promos, however, couldn’t help but spoof “Girls’” nude scenes, but that didn't make Dunham any less excited about  the hosting gig.

"I love ('SNL') with a passion," she said. "'Obsessed' is not too strong of a word, and being here in this space is surreal and wonderful, and I just am so excited to soak up every inch of it. I was literally, like, staring at the hair stylists as they constructed wigs today, saying, 'I want to learn your secrets.'"
 

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