Lena Dunham gives 'Camping' premiere a miss due to "chronic illness"

Lena Dunham gives 'Camping' premiere a miss due to "chronic illness"

HBO's new show, 'Camping's massive premier was attended by the entire cast who kept cheering together, with just one person missing. Show's creator Lena Dunham, unfortunately, couldn't make it to the premiere due to chronic illness. The former 'Girls' creator took to Instagram on Thursday to inform her followers that she was "sorry to be missing the 'Camping' premiere."

"I’ve paid a lot of visits to the ER the last few weeks, trying to handle my symptoms so I would be able to promote this show I love so much, with these people I love so much. But my illness- which has come and gone but never full left- has made working challenging at best and scary at worst. I’m not strong enough right now to explain what’s going on, in part because my doctors are helping me figure that out. I’m so sorry to be missing the Camping premiere and the chance to celebrate with brilliant people," an excerpt from Lena's Instagram read.

However, the premiere night, which was held at the Paramount Studios in LA on Thursday evening, saw a star-studded red-carpet graced by Jennifer Garner, David Tennant, Juliette Lewis, Ione Skye, and Bridget Everett.

 



 


Some time ago, the 32-year-old had shared in a lengthy message about "a proven connection between chronic pain and trauma." Referring to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony, Dunham had hinted that it might have triggered her fibromyalgia pain. However, in her latest post, she confessed that she has been spending a lot of time at the hospital due to the pain, but it was all in vain since she missed "the Camping premiere and the chance to celebrate with brilliant people."

It seems that Dunham retained her humor even in illness when it comes to relating herself to her characters. The former 'Girls' actress further wrote on Instagram: "If you want to see a kooky but achy portrait of what chronic illness does to a woman’s brain, Kathryn Mcsorley-Jodell in 'Camping' is just that." However, when Kathryn (Jennifer Garner) appeared at the premiere, she looked nothing like a woman with a messed up brain.

 



 

Jennifer Garner, who plays the obsessively crazy wife, Kathryn in 'Camping,' looked gorgeous in a one-shoulder satin top with a set of black trousers bearing a matching maroon stripe down the outside of each leg. She accessorized it with a set of dangling diamond earrings and two silver bangles and left loose her brunette waves.

While speaking to ET at the red carpet, Garner opened up about her character which she says is totally opposite to her real self. "My character was so mean, that I had some making up to do. I tried my best in real life not to be like this character, but I did have a lot of love for her and I did really understand where she was coming from. I did see that at one point in time she was, if not the life of the party, the organizer of the party. And she had a lot of physical issues since then, and it's kind of hardened her heart."

 



 

Garner probably empathizes with Kathryn because she knows what happens when a camping trip goes wrong. Speaking with Renee Bargh from Extra, the 'Peppermint' actress said, "You always have something go wrong, really wrong on a camping trip. You know the tent blowing over while everyone's asleep...stuff like that." On the other hand, Juliette Lewis who plays the role of Jandice in the show revealed that going nude in a scene was certainly scary. She said, "Totally scary...not really liberating. Don't need it. But I think it is funny, and I take it as a compliment nowadays that people assume it's nothing to me. I think because they think, I am really daring with my work. But I try to be a little more conservative with life." 

 



 

According to HBO, the pilot episode will see "A 'perfect' group camping trip, obsessively organized by Kathryn McSorley-Jodell in honor of her adoring husband Walt's 45th birthday, is threatened by tension between Kathryn and her estranged best friend, Nina-Joy, the unexpected addition of a pissed-off goth teen and the chaotic arrival of Miguel, who is smack dab in the middle of a breakdown and toting his new girlfriend, Jandice, a woman of many talents who rubs Kathryn the wrong way." Although Dunham couldn't attend the premiere, the star-studded presence was enough to say that 'Camping' could be up for a good start. 

'Camping' will air on Sunday, October 14, at 10:00 PM on HBO.

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 Camping HBO Lena Dunham suffers from chronic illness missed premiere