Actor Jake Lacy – who played Hannah Horvath’s boyfriend Fran Parker in HBO’s hit comedy series Girls – has revealed he once thought his co-star Adam Driver “might hit me” during filming.
The series is experiencing something of a renaissance thanks to creator Lena Dunham’s new memoir Famesick, which details her accounts of working on the show about the messy lives of four twenty-something women living in New York.
Lacy’s character Fran was introduced in season four, as a teacher who dates Dunham’s Hannah after her split from boyfriend Adam Sackler (Driver).
With Hannah not quite over her erratic and unpredictable ex, the levelheaded Fran at first seems like the perfect man for the protagonist. But their relationship begins to sour after they move in together, with their break-up eventually taking place as they set off for a motorhome holiday.
Reflecting on his stint on the show, Lacy has admitted there was one day when he feared things could turn physical – but described the moment as “exhilarating”.
He explained on the Obsessed podcast: “There’s a scene with Lena, where we’re dating and she takes me to an art show to make Adam jealous, or at least to see what happens when she shows up with another guy.”
“We shot that scene, or I think we blocked it, but [had] not really rehearsed it fully,” Lacy continued.
“I was standing next to Adam and I was like, ‘this guy might hit me in this scene and I don’t really know what’s going to happen right now’. And that was exhilarating.”
The Independent has contacted Driver’s representative for comment.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Lacy’s comments come after Dunham shared anecdotes from the Girls set in Famesick.
The exposing book sees Dunham, who was just 23 when she sold Girls to HBO, reflect on making the series and share details from her personal life at the time, including her five-year relationship with musician and producer Jack Antonoff.
Sharing her experience of working with Star Wars actor Driver, Dunham claimed her co-star was “verbally aggressive” and “physically imposing” towards her.
“I remember doing a fight scene with Adam and how scary it was to meet someone so totally present with such absence,” she wrote. “Late one night, as we practised lines in my trailer, I found that mine were suddenly gone. I knew I’d written them. I’d known them only minutes before.
“But when I opened my mouth, all that came out was a stammer – until finally, Adam screamed, ‘F***ING SAY SOMETHING’ and hurled a chair at the wall next to me.
“‘WAKE THE F**K UP,’ he told me. ‘I’M SICK OF WATCHING YOU JUST STARE.’”
Driver was asked about the claims as he promoted his latest film Paper Tiger at last month’s Cannes Film Festival.
The actor sparked laughter at a press conference as he responded: “I have no comment on any of that – I’m saving it all for my book.”
