At just 26, Leo Reich is already carving out a name for himself as a comedian, actor, and London ranter extraordinaire. Openly gay and proudly unapologetic, he broke out at the Edinburgh Fringe and turned his one-man show Literally Who Cares?! into an HBO special. Now he’s stepping into acting — with a role written just for him by Lena Dunham in her Netflix comedy Too Much. Jet-lagged and unfiltered, he’s exactly the kind of chaotic energy the queer scene needs right now.
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From Girls to Too Much
Reich first discovered Dunham’s cult hit Girls when he was 13. After secretly bingeing all five seasons, he proudly introduced it to his parents.
“We watched the first episode, and my mum said to me, ‘I think you should watch it in a few years when you’ll understand it more.’ I said, ‘Yeah, so I watched it already.’ They said, ‘Fuck it, let’s watch it then.’”
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That early obsession with Dunham’s self-aware, messy millennial world inspired him to pursue comedy, where his sharp voice and loud personality quickly stood out.
Fast forward to a jet-lagged layover in Malaysia, and Reich’s agent called with unbelievable news: Lena Dunham wanted to write a character just for him in her new series Too Much.
“I talk about Girls at least five times a day, so I thought my agent was joking as a sick prank because it was so on the nose it didn’t seem real. I thought I was having a dissociative episode.”
Turns out, it was very real.
Meet Boss: The Role That’s So Leo It Hurts
In Too Much, Reich plays Boss, Jessica’s (Meg Stalter) sharp-tongued Gen Z colleague — a loud, cutting, and delightfully irritating gay guy whose personality feels ripped straight from Reich’s own stand-up DNA.
“[Lena Dunham] saw my stand-up and thought this irritating gay guy could be in the office,” Reich says.
Boss is refreshingly uncomplicated.
“So much gay male content is about people in the closet, or being repressed or grief,” Reich explains. “Boss uses the language that I recognise when I talk to my gay friends — it’s more ironic, cutting in tone and some [of it has] a real femininity.”
He continues,
“Most of gay media focuses on the journey and the struggle, but what’s great about Elijah [from Girls] and Boss is they’re so definitively gay in a recognisable way that’s an uncomplicated part of their personality.”
Acting with Legends & Getting Dating Advice from Richard E. Grant
Despite it being his acting debut, Reich’s role puts him in scenes with Meg Stalter, Richard E. Grant, and other notable talents. The thought of working with Grant was intimidating — but it turned out Grant was full of surprisingly solid dating advice.
“He basically said, ‘Go for it.’ I was talking about this guy, and he said, ‘Call him on the phone, for the love of God. Life’s too short.’ So I did, and it went really badly. Thanks, Richard.”
London, Love-Hate & the Queer Scene in Crisis
Too Much is Dunham’s love letter to London — a city that’s “grimy and beautiful, romantic but realistic,” according to Reich.
“It’s nice to see London through the eyes of someone who loves it,” he says. “Anyone who lives in London, the conversation you have is ‘Fuck this so fucking much.’”
But Reich’s upcoming sitcom It Gets Worse, produced by A24 for Channel 4, takes a bleaker, funnier look at the city from the perspective of young queer people trying to navigate skyrocketing rents and a dying nightlife.
“Part of the show that I’m writing at the moment asks what do you do in London if you’re 24?” Reich explains. “We all have this romantic dream of being in your twenties in London, falling around the floor, drunk, high and hooking up with people — but you can’t because a drink costs £300 and there’s no gay bar to drink it in.”
He’s brutally honest about the state of queer nightlife and community spaces:
“The big picture is so depressing. When live entertainment and nightlife start struggling, queer venues are the first to be eliminated because they cater to a smaller market.”
Soho — once the beating heart of London’s queer life — is now a shadow of itself.
“Having thrown up on the streets of Soho after being in a gay club, Soho feels deserted and strange, but I also think that feeling that it’s dying inspires people to create new spaces.”
Why Leo Reich Is Someone to Watch
Reich’s appeal comes from his refusal to fit into neat boxes. He’s loud, messy, ironic, feminine, and profoundly relatable. His queer identity isn’t a struggle or a punchline — it’s just part of the chaotic, lovable package.
If you want a character (and a real person) who’s unapologetically himself, someone who skewers the messiness of young queer life while laughing through the pain, Leo Reich is the name to remember.
Catch him this summer on Netflix’s Too Much — and keep an eye out for It Gets Worse, coming soon.
Source: Attitude