Laurie Simmons Casts Daughter Lena Dunham in New Film

Laurie Simmons and her daughter Lena Dunham at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (February 6, 2014). Photo: via the Boston Globe.

As a relatively unknown college grad, Lena Dunham cast her mom, conceptual artist and photographer Laurie Simmons, in what would turn out to be her break-out indie film Tiny Furniture (2009). Now, mother will return the favor for daughter, reports the Independent.

In Tiny Furniture, Simmons played a fictionalized version of herself: an artist who photographs the titular tiny furniture and is mother to Dunham’s rudderless Aura. The film was shot at Simmons’s Tribeca home, where she lives and works.

The upcoming film project is titled My Art and will be about an aging woman artist. “I have little part for Lena in the film, which she seems excited about,” Simmons told the Independent. “A very little part.”

The artist has had other experience in film and television, such as a 2011 guest appearance on the CW’s teen favorite “Gossip Girl.” In addition, Simmons has completed several short films including Slow Dance (2007) and The Music of Regret (2006), a three-act musical starring Meryl Streep. Simmons was also a subject during season 4 of Art21.

Filming for My Art is set to begin in August.


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.
Article topics