M
eg Stalter was fighting in a hot tub. She had come to a water park in Wisconsin to relax between stops on her comedy tour, which was styled as a series of fake rallies for a rich, famous, and clueless person running for president. (I know this is a difficult political scenario to imagine, but please stay with me.) While Stalter soaked, she became enraged by a group of hot-tub dwellers who were not embodying what she considered to be the spirit of the aquatic center, and she began screaming back and forth with them. “Wow, you seem like a lot of fun,” Stalter yelled, informing them that there were three other sections of the park they could move to if they had a problem with this particular one. Then she stood up, said, “You know what? I’m going to show you that if you don’t like to be around someone, you get up and leave,” turned, and banged her head on the wall.

This is probably tracking for those who know Stalter from her live performances, or Hacks, on which she plays the indefatigably clueless nepo-agent Kayla, or Stalter’s Instagram, which showcases her myriad well-­meaning, clueless characters, such as the personification of a business attempting to project allyship to the LQBTQIA+ community. (“Hi, gay! Happy Pride Month. We are sashaying away with deals.”) These talents are deployed to great effect on Too Much (July 10), the new Netflix series from married co-creators Lena Dunham and Luis Felber, in which Stalter plays a fictionalized version of Dunham, a voice of a clueless generation.

But Meg Stalter is not so much clueless as compassionately guileless. See, she was at the water park with her girlfriend, and there was a tiny child swimming alone in the hot tub. Some adults started sticking their arms out and pushing the boy away so he couldn’t enter “their area” because he was allegedly “scratching and splashing.” (At an all-ages water park, this seems like a barrier of entry.) When Stalter told them they could not touch another person’s kid but could feel free to steep elsewhere in the massive facility, the man in the group started cursing at her. And then she was so upset, actually shaking with anger as she went to go find the little boy’s parents, that she clonked her skull in front of those assholes. “It was so embarrassing,” Stalter says. “It was, like, out of a movie.”

Stalter’s protective instincts for the innocent extend to her own inner child, who is close enough to the surface as to be visible; her grooming tends toward pigtails and the kind of glittery makeup job one applies after receiving a fully stocked Caboodles makeup kit from Santa. Today, sitting in the empty audience of her favorite Los Angeles performance spot, Largo, before it opens, Stalter is wearing Hello Kitty Crocs and a one-shoulder dress in Lisa Frank-lite pastels. When we greet each other, she gives me tangerines she’d picked the day before on a trip to a farm with her girlfriend. The produce bag is sweetly tied with a sextuple-looped yellow ribbon.

In person, with her comedic cutie-brat persona tucked away, Stalter is earnest and vulnerable, frequently invoking the importance of her faith. “I’m very, like, a God girl,” she says. “So I believe that God has a plan for me, and if something happens, then he’ll have another plan.” Stalter is also, against all evidence, quite soft-spoken. “If I was in a store and someone shushed me in a scary way, that would affect me,” Stalter says. “If someone was mean to me, I could feel like the little girl. ‘Why would they be mean to her?’ ”

During Stalter’s childhood in Ohio, they were mean to her. After graduating from Catholic elementary school, she attended civilian middle school and struggled to understand why everyone wasn’t friends. The popular girls “tortured” her, she says. In an effort to facilitate the missing camaraderie, Stalter invited everyone to a Hawaiian-themed party at her house. She discovered invitations she’d lovingly handed out tossed in the trash at school. Two people wound up attending.

Stalter’s mom was (perhaps unsurprisingly) an early ally. She found Stalter funny for the things she still perceives to be true about herself: being “embarrassing or nervous and confident at the same time.” Stalter would do interpretive dances on the sidewalk; the joke was that her mom was the only one who knew she wasn’t crazy.

That tension of not everyone getting it is Stalter’s comedic modus operandi. She recalls a show at the Laugh Factory in Chicago, before she was famous, where the audience was full of drunk tourists — and a lone friend of Stal­ter’s. She had a bit where she would take the stage with blood pouring out of her mouth and open by saying, “Sorry if my mouth bleeds tonight. My mouth bleeds when I get nervous, but I think I’m OK tonight.” The only person who laughed at that show, and hysterically, was her buddy. It was a great night.

“It’s fun if it’s even just one person,” she says of connecting with an audience. “And sometimes that could be me.”

When she performs, Stalter says, “It’s something that comes over me like a trance. One of my best friends, [Saturday Night Live star] Sarah Sherman, told me that when she does stand-up, it feels like meditation. And I was like, ‘Oh, my God. It feels like that.’ ” Stalter says when she’s performed with a headache, she stops feeling it until she leaves the stage. “I think that’s when [I know] I’m meant to do that,” Stalter says. Any pain goes away while she enacts God’s purpose for her. 

In Too Much, Stalter’s Jessica is a celebration of the show’s title. The character is caught between a manic id fueled equally by a painful breakup and the lust of new love, and the debilitating superego induced by the same life events. Jess records a series of videos she doesn’t intend to release, directly addressing the woman her ex is now engaged to (played by the comically hot Emily Ratajkowski), and whips herself into self-­sabotage by questioning her new relationship with Felix (Will Sharpe of The White Lotus Season Two fame), who is loosely based on Felber. Any time you fear things are getting unsustainably tumultuous, you need only remind yourself that every episode is a play on the title of a famous rom-com (e.g., “Notting Kill”) and that its creators are now happily married enough to want to work together.

“When I’m performing, something comes over me like a trance. That’s when I know I’m meant to do it.”

The show gives Stalter her first major leading role. She is perhaps the only person besides Dunham who could have played it, which is why Dunham wrote it for her. 

Andrew Scott, who also appears in Too Much, introduced Dunham to Stalter’s work. Dunham says he’d shown her Meg’s videos “in the heart of Covid and said, ‘Do you know this girl? She’s your sister.’ ” (Dunham does play Stalter’s onscreen sister, hilariously despondent after her husband decides to explore bisexuality and polyamory while she languishes in a series of increasingly sedentary supine positions.) “I became totally transfixed,” Dunham says. “Someone whose characters operate on the edge of delusional, on the edge of cringe, but is always ultimately in on the joke — that, to me, is my comedy DNA.” Dunham cites the characters David Brent on the U.K. Office, Patsy and Edina on Absolutely Fabulous, and Valerie Cherish of The Comeback as Stalter’s fictional ancestors.

Around 2022, Dunham DM’d Stalter on Instagram and said she had a project in mind. Stalter was a mega Girls fan and had felt a kinship with Dunham through the screen. “I’d connect to this person,” she’d thought about a hypothetical but unlikely future meeting while watching Dunham play Hannah Horvath, the series’ divisive protagonist. 

When Stalter and Dunham got on Zoom, Stalter’s instinct was confirmed. Dunham had made a deck of the show — kind of a mood board/game plan for a television series — and there were photos of Stalter on it as the main character. Then Dunham told Stalter, “Girls was about sex, and this is about love.” It was kismet; Stalter had met her now-partner only four months earlier and refers to her this way: “No one’s perfect except for my girlfriend.”

“We’re very different, just like Lena and Luis,” Stalter says. “When me and Lena first talked, we were bonding over that. I feel like I’m the Lena, and I’m the one bringing home a thing.”

Stalter is referring to the chaos of her life, but sometimes the “thing” is literal. Imagining a conversation between Felber and Dunham, Stalter riffs, “She could be like, ‘Honey, I bought a pig today.’ And then he’s like [affectionately], ‘Oh, Lena.’ ” Working with the couple proved the premise of the show. “It just feels like Luis fully lets Lena, and Lena lets Luis, be exactly who they are,” Stalter says. “I think sometimes you could be with someone who likes all the differences.”

In her own menagerie, Stalter currently has two cats — one rather more aloof, and one hairless snuggler named Suki — and a dog called Bunny, who manages an anxiety disorder with medication and as much physical contact with Stalter as possible. On Too Much, Jess, like Dunham, has a bald dog, procured after giving up a rescue (in this case named Cutesie) because of behavioral issues. 

In 2017, Dunham went through several heinous press cycles, including one around the saga of her and then-partner Jack Antonoff’s real-life dog, Lamby, whom they surrendered to a canine rehabilitation center after multiple instances of aggression. In Too Much, Jess’ boyfriend forces her to “get rid” of their dog after it nearly bites someone. It’s one of many moments that invite a close read, especially in the context of Dunham’s autobiographical pieces of writing about her wrenching breakup with Antonoff and her subsequent move to London — the city where Stalter’s character decamps after the end of a relationship with a Jewish ex-boyfriend.

“People love when they see something and they’re like, ‘Is that from that person’s real life?’ ” Stalter says. “Even if it’s not all factual or it’s not literally a biography, someone so open about sharing their real experiences or at least putting them into certain characters, it’s really beautiful, because we get to learn about her. That’s why when I saw Girls, even though [Lena is] not Hannah, there’s parts of her in her stuff. That’s the most beautiful thing to see, someone who’s putting their heart and energy into something and you get to learn about them — but then you’re not taking everything that happened as truth.”

At the precipice of her highest-profile role yet, Stalter is contemplating what the project might mean for nonconsensual probing into her own life. People watching her videos is fine, because she has complete control over them, and people are seeing them in their homes. When audiences come to her stand-up shows, well, that’s what she’s always wanted, and the work is begetting fans who want to see more work. “It feels contained or something,” Stalter says. “And then with Hacks, it’s been so huge and life-changing. But in my mind, I could be safe because I’m not the lead in it.

“Lena is someone I’ve been such a huge fan of, so it was really crazy to wrap my mind around being in the show,” Stalter says slowly. “But then when I got to know her, she felt like a sister and a friend. So now the show feels like a play that we did for each other, and that this really contains a special thing.”

“Getting to know Lena, she felt like a sister and a friend. So now the show feels like a play that we did for each other.”

Sharpe remembers filming an episode — one of the best of the series — that takes place over one night, in Stalter’s character’s apartment. The couple has had sex too many times, and Sharpe’s character has hit his refractory limit. Sharpe’s line after aborting the encounter was supposed to be something like, “I’m in my thirties, queen. I’m all out.” After an exhausting day of filming, it came out, in a posh accent, as, “That’s me done for the evening, I’m afraid.” Stalter named this imaginary interloping gentleman “the Midnight Man,” and pointed out every time Sharpe strayed into Midnight Man territory during production. Then she made him a shirt with the moniker on it. “Because of the energy of Lena — and Meg, in particular — it put you in quite a positive, hopeful, loving mindset,” Sharpe says of shooting the series. “Just seeing the best in everything and in everyone.”

The setting allowed Stalter the confidence and space to play a role that both exercises her obvious comedic virtuosity and shows previously untapped dramatic ability, from dealing with insecurity (not a state expressed by a typical Stalter character) to a breakdown during a breakup. “Some of the stuff that’s in the show I feel is like, Oh! Nobody would ever see me do this if it wasn’t on TV,” Stalter says. “When you’re crying in your room alone, people don’t see that unless it’s on TV. I’m really crying.”

Embodying what Dunham describes as Stalter’s “incredible mix of warm/fuzzy and boundaried strength,” Stalter explains how she approached fictional sex with the advice of intimacy coordinator Miriam Lucia: “During kissing scenes or during vulnerable stuff, it’s not actually you, and you don’t have to do it the way you do, because you can save that part for yourself.” As for Stalter’s corporeal being — beautifully showcased on a series in which her character is implicitly contrasted with one played by an actual supermodel — she says, “I’m very about taking care of my body and being healthy, but I have not wanted to be skinny or lose weight for cosmetic reasons since high school.” A beacon for us all.

To make public the kind of deeply personal moments fostered by Dunham’s writing is, by definition, exposing. “It just feels really vulnerable,” Stalter says. “It’s hard or strange to think of it being on such a huge platform. It’s exciting … but also, just, Netflix is so big.”

Stalter points to her career-long luck of collaborating with people like Dunham and the Hacks team. “I’ve not worked with evil people,” she says. “I don’t know how.” But she also considers the world this project is opening her up to. “I think there is power in Hollywood that is gross,” she says. “There’s a lot of darkness in the industry, and things that can corrupt you, like money and power.” 

Stalter isn’t particularly concerned. “I feel so connected to God and grounded that I feel like I would not get swept up by anything in Hollywood,” she says.

Stalter sees herself representing — in her life, in a movie she’s developing called Church Girls, and in the “evil, crazy, weird villain” version of herself she plays onstage — people like her, who grew up with God in places like the Midwest, and who maybe didn’t finish college either. “Their lives are just as big as ours,” she says, finally daring to group herself in with her famous peers.

“I’m always going to be sensitive,” Stalter says. “I am still that little girl in middle school being like, ‘Why don’t they want to come to the Hawaiian party?’ But it’s like, there’ve been so many other parties.”

Justin Bieber has surprise-released a new album called Swag. The album features Dijon, Lil B, Sexyy Red, the comedian Druski, Gunna, Cash Cobain, 2 Chainz, and others. Production comes from Dijon, Mk.gee, Knox Fortune, Daniel Caesar, and more, and a key songwriter across the album is Tobias Jesso Jr. Listen to the album below.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bieber had been hosting “jam sessions” at his Los Angeles home in recent months. The publication also reported that the singer decamped to Iceland to jam, “vibe out,” and finish his album.

One of the new album’s collaborators, Mk.gee, had previously spoken about his work with Bieber for a New York Times feature. “He’s searching,” the guitarist told The Times’ Joe Coscarelli last year. “Anything that comes out of his mouth: That’s pop music,” he continued. “You can really do pretty wild stuff behind that, just because it represents something.”

Swag is Bieber’s seventh studio album and first since 2021’s Justice. He began his Justice World Tour the next year, but he had to cancel it early due to health issues. The tour cancellation apparently led to financial issues with his then-manager Scooter Braun, who allegedly helped Bieber cover the more than $20 million that the singer owed to the tour’s promoter, AEG Presents. Bieber and Braun recently settled their dispute, according to The Hollywood Reporter and TMZ.

In 2023, Bieber sold his catalog to Recognition Music Group (then known as Hipgnosis) for a reported $200 million. It marked the company’s largest catalog acquisition at the time.

Bieber has limited his musical output in the time since Justice. He teamed up with SZA on “Snooze (Acoustic),” Kehlani on “Up at Night,” and Omah Lay on “Attention,” to name a few of his collaborative efforts. He also shared the songs “Honest,” “I Feel Funny,” and “Beautiful Love (Free Fire).”

Justin Bieber soundtracked one of his promotional posts for Swag with Florida rapper Bossman Dlow’s Mr Beat the Road standout “Talk My Shit.” Read more about the pop superstar’s fascination with regional hip-hop in Alphonse Pierre’s column “What the Hell Is Justin Bieber Doing on Rob49’s ‘WTHelly?’”

LAS VEGAS — The Cooper Flagg era unofficially began Thursday night when the Dallas Mavericks opened the Las Vegas Summer League with an 87-85 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Here are five observations from Flagg’s debut in Thursday’s win over the Lakers:

Center of attention: Flagg vs. James

Thomas & Mack Center drew a nearly full arena that was full of people waiting to see Flagg match up with Lakers sophomore guard Bronny James.

It was apparent from the moment the jump ball went in favor of the Mavericks that the anticipation was already pent up among both teams. Flagg received the ball and the Lakers sent two defenders to double-team him immediately, almost as if they knew the Mavericks’ first play of the game.

Flagg drew attention early, but James had a quick start that resulted in the first five points for the Lakers. James drilled a smooth step-back from the midrange over Flagg to open scoring for both teams. He followed that up with a triple as Flagg went under a screen. James finished with eight points, two rebounds and two assists on 2-of-8 shooting from the field.

The two headliners guarded each other several times throughout the game. Flagg posted James up on three consecutive possessions in the second quarter, sparking oohs and aahs from the crowd. James managed to cleanly poke the ball away from Flagg on the second post-up attempt, but a foul was called and the fans inside the arena antagonized by the moment jeered. Flagg was successful on the third, as he drilled a midrange shot over LeBron James’ eldest son.

James had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter, but missed a hesitation 3-pointer as the final buzzer expired.

Flagg finished with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in 31 minutes of action.

Flagg’s second wind

Flagg went to the bench after the first timeout of the game to catch a quick breather after missing his first two shots. His brightest moment of the game occurred a minute later as he made several high-impact plays upon checking back into the game.

The Mavericks rookie came up with a steal and took the ball the length of the court while outrunning two Lakers defenders before throwing down a one-handed dunk. He followed that up with a midrange shot he knocked down as he fell to the floor.

Flagg managed to show why he was the consensus top pick by showing his versatile skill set. He defended well and managed to get over screens. He served as a viable playmaker. He rebounded. However, he didn’t shoot the ball well, finishing just 5-of-21 from the field.

It’s natural that Flagg could be rusty, considering it was his first official game since Duke was eliminated from the Final Four in March. That wasn’t an excuse for Flagg, who reflected on his performance after the game.

“I tried to be aggressive,” Flagg said. “That’s new for me. Honestly, that might be one of the worst games of my life, but we got the win so that’s what really matters to me.”

Point Flagg

After weeks of anticipation of what Flagg would look like in a point guard role, the basketball world received a glimpse of Mavericks coach Jason Kidd’s vision.

Flagg brought the ball up the court several times and managed to be successful with his handle, even when Lakers defenders tried to be physical. He was often picked up full court, but used his body to shield himself from defenders looking to steal the ball.

Late in the fourth quarter, Flagg drove into the paint, spun as if he was going to rise for a midrange shot and swung the ball to Maxwell Lewis in the corner for a clean 3-pointer. It was only his third assist, but an example of his high IQ on display.

Flagg is just 18 years old, but he showed poise initiating the offense and made smart passes, especially in transition. He had only one turnover, an impressive feat considering how much he had the ball in his hands. In fact, the Mavericks only turned the ball over nine times — an acceptable number after practicing only twice this week leading up to the opener.

“I was looking forward to it,” Flagg said. “Obviously being able to split some reps with Ryan [Nembhard] and share that with him. It was fun. It’s new for me bringing it up, having that full court pressure. I’m not in full game shape so I was tired … It was fun to experiment with some new things.”

It’s unclear how much point guard we’ll see Flagg run during the regular season, but he’ll be an option to use if Kidd wishes to.

Mavericks’ two-ways

Flagg wasn’t the only player who made an impression in Thursday’s game. Mavericks two-way guard Ryan Nembhard, who’s known as a playmaker, led the team in scoring with 21 points and five assists. Two-way guard Miles Kelly added 17 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Both players started alongside Flagg, Jamarion Sharp and Maxwell Lewis.

Nembhard gave the Mavericks a two-point lead with 59.1 seconds left after drilling a triple, assisted by Flagg. He knocked down several timely jumpers throughout the game and didn’t allow his 6-foot frame to hinder him from getting to his spots.

Blanket of support

There were several notable faces sitting courtside to take in the Mavericks’ summer league opener. Mavs Governor Patrick Dumont sat across from the Dallas bench. He was joined by a bevy of key members from the varsity group, including Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington, Max Christie, Naji Marshall, Jaden Hardy and Olivier-Maxence Prosper.

That group of Mavericks rose to their feet early in the second quarter when Flagg drilled a fadeaway shot from the baseline over the outstretched hands of James. Flagg showed his fiery spirit and appeared to yell toward his new teammates, celebrating the successful moment of competition against James.

“I definitely heard them. It was cool seeing them there and showing up in support of us,” Flagg said. “I didn’t really say anything. I just kind of looked at them. They were kind of saying stuff a couple of plays before. That was just a funny moment.”

Members of the front office and coaching staff were also present, including assistant general managers Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi, along with head coach Jason Kidd and new lead assistant coach Frank Vogel, plus other support staff. Minority shareholder Mark Cuban was also in attendance. General manager Nico Harrison was noticeably absent, but there was more than enough support from the franchise for the team’s first game in Las Vegas.

X/Twitter: @MikeACurtis2

Watch: Cooper Flagg throws down big dunk for first bucket with Summer League Mavericks

Flagg also nailed a turnaround jumper and posted up Bronny James in an eventful opening quarter vs. the Lakers.

Suns sign Devin Booker to 2-year, $145 million max extension through 2029-30, per report

The 28-year-old Booker has been one of the NBA’s best shooting guards, earning four All-Star appearances in 10 NBA seasons.

Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.