• There was a baby in the audience, and Lena Dunham wondered why. "This is not an appropriate place for babies," she said Tuesday night as she started the tour for one of the season's most anticipated books, Not That Kind of Girl, a collection of adults-only, personal essays. "I love babies, but this is sexual." Dunham, 28, appeared before hundreds of cheering and laughing fans -- and at least one infant -- at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan's Union Square. She was introduced by comedian Amy Schumer, one of many special guests she'll have on the road. She read three sections from her book and answered a handful of questions. Barnes & Noble stores hold a special place in her past, the creator and star of Girls informed the crowd: She nearly broke up with a boyfriend at a Barnes & Noble. Dunham was greeted by a gathering of almost all women. Katie Kim, a film major at New York University who turns 21 next month, said that she thought of Dunham as a role model who taught her about self-acceptance. "I didn't have that when I was younger," she said. "But she's been an inspiration as I enter young womanhood and she has changed my life for the better."
• As she did in Desperate Housewives, Felicity Huffman plays a mother in the coming drama American Crime. The similarities end there, which the Emmy-winning actress says is a good thing. She says after seeing her as Lynette Scavo on Housewives for eight years, it's difficult for audiences to think of her as anything else. She says that's why she was eager for a distinct departure. "You go, 'Oh, there's Lynette.' You don't go, 'There's Felicity Huffman.' So you need to be different enough that it's not just 'Oh, there's Lynette as a doctor. There's Lynette as a cabdriver or policeman.'" American Crime, from 12 Years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley, follows the lives of people affected by a racially charged trial after Huffman's son is murdered. The series, which co-stars Timothy Hutton, debuts on ABC in March. Huffman spoke Monday while promoting her work with Warriors in Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, advocating better mother-daughter communication about breast health. She says she was inspired by a desire to start talking about the issue with her own two daughters with her husband, fellow actor William H. Macy.
A Section on 10/02/2014