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The semi-autobiographical story of Lena Dunham and her husband Luis Felber, a British-Peruvian musician, new Netflix series Too Much is a fictionalised version of their relationship in London. How fictionalised, only they will know, but hopefully quite a lot. No one should take that much ketamine at a city zoo.
It’s also a proper joy: a story of millennial love, work, sex and life in two big cities peppered with the kind of cultural authenticity that only lived experience can provide, and enough fantasy and big laughs to make it work as pure escapism too.
And that’s not to mention the killer soundtrack and a stuffed-to-the-gills supporting cast that boasts Stephen Fry, Andrew Scott (hot priest turns sleazy filmmaker here), Richard E Grant, David Jonsson, Naomi Watts, Emily Ratajkowski, Rita Wilson, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Dunham herself.
What happens in Too Much?
The show’s ten episodes follow American creative Jessica (Megan Stalter), fresh from a break-up, as she heads from New York to London in pursuit of a romanticised version of the city that only exists in the movies of Richard Curtis and the books of Jane Austen. Instead of a grand Regency estate, she finds herself in the bricky Hackney kind. Instead of a clean slate, she discovers that the emotions she’s fled from have come along for the ride. And she has no clue what a ‘tosser’ is.
Enter Will Sharpe’s striving musician Felix, a man with a few skeletons of his own, and a wild and unpredictable, but beautifully relatable love affair takes shape.
Where was Too Much filmed?
Like jealous rivals, London and New York share screen time in the show. Supervising location manager Nick Marshall and co-writer Luis Felber talk us through the key locations used in each city.
London and the UK
Jess’s flat was filmed at St Peter’s Estate, Hackney
Too Much kicks off with Jess landing in London and taking a black cab to her new apartment in Hoxton Grove Estate. Instead of the Jane Austen-esque country pile she’s expecting, it’s a Hackney housing estate with paper-thin walls and a neighbour who swears a lot. ‘We looked in the Holloway Road vicinity and all four corners of the city,’ says Marshall, ‘but this was the most aesthetically interesting estate. Our production base was in 3 Mills [in Bow], so it made sense to start in that area.’
Jess and Felix’s meet cute takes place at The Ivy House, Nunhead
The first episode also sees new-to-town Jess meeting Felix after his shaky gig at The Ivy House. The venue has a personal history for Felber. Like Felix, he’d played gigs at the beloved Nunhead institution. ‘Ivy House was one of the first venues I played in when I moved to London at 17 or 18,’ he remembers. ‘We wanted it to feel real.’
📍Find out where The Ivy House lands on Time Out’s pick of the 50 best London pubs
The Notting Hill movie pilgrimage was shot at 280 Westbourne Park Road
A romcom fanatic, Jess makes a pilgrimage to the famous door used in Notting Hill. ‘The door is now considered in the public domain, so you don't need permission from the property owner [to film outside],’ says Marshall. ‘They used a load of CGI in Notting Hill to make it look like a private house, but it absolutely isn’t. What's behind the door? A very long, dark corridor that seems to lead [nowhere].’
The Donkey Fest gig was filmed at Hackney City Farm
Felix’s band plays a gig in the unlikely surrounds of Hackney City Farm, as Jess watches on with his enigmatic ex (Exarchopoulos), and a menagerie of sheep and pigs. ‘This was originally scripted as a more traditional music festival in a London park,’ says Marshall. ‘But Lena was familiar with Hackney City Farm, and because Jessica's estate is close by, she decided to tie it all in. Hats off to her because it worked brilliantly.’
The ad recce was filmed in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire
Jess and her ad agency colleagues embark on a location scout for a new Christmas commercial, with Andrew Scott’s narcissistic director in tow. The scene was filmed in the pretty Chilterns village of Hambleden, once used in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. ‘It has a long history of filming,’ says Marshall. ‘I think it’s the prettiest village near London.’
Jess meets Andrew Scott’s director at The Royal Standard of England in Beaconsfield
This oak-furnished pub outside the Buckinghamshire town of Beaconsfield hosts an uncomfortable drink between Jess and Scott’s conceited auteur during the location scout. It’s appeared in The Theory of Everything and Hot Fuzz, but Marshall notes an even more impressive claim to frame: ‘It’s the second oldest freehold pub in the country.
The country house wedding was filmed at Englefield Estate, West Berkshire
Jess finally gets her Richard Curtis moment when she joins Felix and his mates for a big country house wedding in episode 8. The church service and reception were both filmed in this elegant private country estate west of London. ‘It was scripted as an aristocratic wedding with a church adjacent to it, and I didn't really think of any other location,’ says Marshall. ‘The estate isn’t open to the public, but you can get married in the church. The vicar is lovely.’
The record shop gig was filmed at Dash The Henge in Camberwell
Another venue with personal history for Felber is this indie record store in Camberwell, where like Felix in episode 6, he’s once played gigs.
The hospital and vet was filmed at Shoreditch Town Hall
Shoreditch’s town hall building was a real Swiss Army knife for Too Much. The building’s popular (and free) artists workspace doubled up for the vets where Jess’s hairless Chihuahua, Astrid, gets treated, while the foyer and committee room were transformed into a hospital where Jess gets treated after setting herself alight.
Jessica and Wendy’s coffee takes place at Chambers Restaurant, Victoria Park
Without giving too much away, Jess and her romantic nemesis Wendy (played by Emily Ratajkowski) meet for a pivotal late-episode coffee. The scene was shot in this cosy, family-run Mediterranean restaurant round the corner from Victoria Park.
Felix’s walk of shame was shot on Parliament Hill, Hampstead
The roof of London – okay, semi-elevated mezzanine level – Parliament Hill has already played a starring role in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy this year, and it’s back for a scene in Too Much in which Felix has a ‘morning after’ moment. ‘The popular spot [to film] is the top of Parliament Hill, but we went a little further down the hill,’ says Marshall. ‘We pan across to see Felix walking with the city in the background. It's a beautiful spot.’
New York
The Brooklyn bar where Jessica meets Zev is Alligator Lounge in Brooklyn
Williamsburg’s Alligator Lounge is having its moment on screen: it featured in season 1 of Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal and stars in a key flashback scene in Too Much. Here, Jess meets boyfriend-to-be Zev for the first time, bonding over the bar’s famous free pizza vouchers. IRL, free pizza is served with every drink from 6pm-2am. Margherita and margaritas… what could be better?
📍Where to find Alligator Lounge
Jessica bumps into Zev and Wendy at Cuppa Hive Coffee, Brooklyn
Another flashback scene sees Jess bumping into her wavering boyfriend having a coffee with the mysterious Wendy. The awkwardness unfolds on the sidewalk outside Brooklyn’s Cuppa Hive Coffee near Prospect Park.
Too Much soundtrack: the full tracklist for Lena Dunham’s romcom by episode.