Allison Williams Will Show Her Boobs In A Girls Reboot — Even If She’s 60

The world is finally ready for Marnie Michaels. When Girls was airing in the mid-2010s, Marnie wasn’t exactly a well-received character on the HBO show. It seemed the whole internet became devoted to hating her with each new judgmental rant, toxic hookup, or cringey musical performance. But now, the Marnie-ssance is upon us, as the once-loathed Brooklynite is now embraced on social media for all her relatable missteps — and Allison Williams knows why OG fans are finally ready to embrace her deeply flawed, deeply human “girl who took a risk and put herself out there creatively.”

“She can't hurt you anymore,” the 37-year-old actor tells Elite Daily. “For people in their 20s, when Girls was airing, she was just too close for comfort. Now, with a little distance, she can’t harm you with her Marnie-ness anymore. She’s not here. You’re safe to enjoy her.”

Williams understands why Marnie was “impossible to enjoy” back when the HBO show was on the air from 2012 to 2017. “She had no ability to read a room. She was super selfish. It was just like, ‘I can't with you. I can't even watch you on television.’ It was a lot.”

While millennials needed about a decade to finally soften on Marnie, Williams has noticed how Gen Z is embracing her right away. When Girls received an unexpected resurgence thanks to younger viewers a couple of years back, Williams was struck by how differently a new generation responded to Marnie’s antics.

Gen Z has a much more forgiving and compassionate point of view about Marnie.

“Marnie’s 20s were so different from what it feels like to be in your 20s right now. So there’s a little distance,” Williams says. “Gen Z has a much more forgiving and compassionate point of view about Marnie, which is lovely.”

Williams has also come around to loving the cringeworthy Marnie scenes that still go viral on social media. The most frequent offender: Marnie’s unhinged performance of Kanye West’s “Stronger” at her ex Charlie’s company party in Season 2.

“That makes me so proud!” Williams says. “I'm so delighted that the culture has held onto it, and keeps using it for other things. When you’re filming something so humiliating like that, you just have to know that it’ll play for laughs at a future date. So I’m proud of the level of cringe that it has.”

Williams also says Marnie’s performance of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” in the series finale is something she’s “sent all the time.” “That felt so cringey, too. Singing against someone’s will from the front seat of a car is a crazy move,” Williams says. “But it’s actually really fun to get to relive it over and over again.”

While it may seem like society is at a perfect place to check in with Girls again, don’t expect a reboot anytime soon. In April, creator and star Lena Dunham shared her idea to revisit the characters when the actors are in their 60s. Williams is down, but one agreement she made with Dunham does concern her about waiting so long.

“I may or may not have made a promise to her way back in the day that I would show my boobs on the show if we revamped it in my 60s,” Williams says. “So I'm sort of playing chicken with that number, because I'm hoping that we get to do it before that.”

Despite her nudity concerns, Williams is fascinated by the prospect of seeing what Marnie is up to in her later years. “I do love the idea of us being in that stage of life,” Williams says. “I'm even kind of like, maybe we should do it in our 80s. I feel like we'll be at our creative peak at that point. But at any era, I would find it interesting.”

In the present, Williams is facing off against a foe equally as dastardly as Brooklyn f*ckboys (well, maybe) as she fights AI robots in M3GAN 2.0, in theaters now. Here, she spills on the possibility of a third movie, her status as “a Love Island fanatic,” and why she used to dream about switching bodies with Kate Beckinsale.

Elite Daily: How has starring in the M3GAN movies affected how you interact with AI?

Allison Williams: I understand how it works better, and it also feels a little bit more humanized to me. I went in a Waymo for the first time yesterday, and I found myself thanking the car when I got out of it. But I’m also more cautious about what I feed into algorithms. I'm very specific about what I look up on Instagram, or ask ChatGPT. I want to try to remain mysterious to them.

ED: There’s literally a 3 in M3GAN’s title. Is it fair to assume a third movie is in talks?

AW: What did we do to ourselves! What would we call the next one? Maybe there have been talks — maybe for a while. Nothing's official, but we, of course, dream of being able to do more. This is a franchise we all love contributing to, and we'd be absolutely psyched to be able to make another one.

I am a Love Island fanatic. Summers are very busy and important in my culture.

ED: Other than your phone or computer, what's one piece of technology you can't live without?

AW: It’s this thing called a Yoto, which has become a parenting tool for me and my partner [husband Alexander Dreymon]. It's this tiny little box, and you put a card into the slot in the top, and it plays a song or an audiobook. My son will listen to Winnie-the-Pooh in its entirety in one sitting; he'll daydream and picture himself in the Hundred Acre Woods, and I can take a shower or get some stuff done.

ED: What's the last TV show that you were obsessed with?

AW: I missed the first season of Nine Perfect Strangers somehow. I just finished that, so I can watch the second season. I can't wait to see what Nicole [Kidman]'s hair looks like. I also just started Love Island USA, and soon I will be watching all the other Love Islands. I am a Love Island fanatic. Summers are very busy and important in my culture.

The Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck combo... I've never been so in love.

ED: What movie have you re-watched the most in your life?

AW: Pearl Harbor. The Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck combo... I've never been so in love with two people in a movie at the same time. I wanted to jump into Kate Beckinsale's body and trade places with her. I watched that every day for months and months and months.

ED: What’s your comfort TV show?

AW: Nothing beats The Office. I've seen each episode so many times. I can fully recite "The Injury" episode as I’m watching it.

ED: Who do you dream of working with one day?

AW: Greta Gerwig. Whether she’s the director or an actor, I'm crazy about her in any setting. I also want to work with Florence Pugh. She seems fun, and she's so talented.

ED: What are you manifesting for the future?

AW: I want more time with the people I love, just as much as possible, and to feel very present in my time with them.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.