{"id":2461201,"date":"2026-06-15T23:58:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T23:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2461201"},"modified":"2026-06-15T23:58:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T23:58:43","slug":"andrew-rannells-recalls-dating-anderson-cooper-before-girls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/andrew-rannells-recalls-dating-anderson-cooper-before-girls\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Rannells Recalls Dating Anderson Cooper Before Girls"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Andrew Rannells<\/strong><\/a> revealed that his short romance with Anderson Cooper<\/strong><\/a> served as inspiration for his character\u2019s story line on Girls<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told [creators] Lena<\/strong> [Dunham<\/strong>] and Jenni Konner<\/strong> a story about when I was 25 that I had dated Anderson Cooper,\u201d the Miss You, Love You<\/em> actor, 47, said during a recent appearance on The Daily Beast<\/em>\u2019s \u201cObsessed\u201d<\/a> podcast. \u201cAnd I told them about the experience and what that was like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rannells played Elijah on the hit HBO series from 2012 to 2019. Elijah was the college ex-boyfriend of Hannah (Dunham), who later came out as gay and befriended his ex-girlfriend.<\/p>\n

The Broadway star shared that his story about his time with Cooper, 59, inspired a story line for his character.<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Allison Williams Responds to ‘Girls’ Costar Lena Dunham’s Memoir<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tAllison Williams has reacted to her former Girls costar Lena Dunham\u2018s latest tell-all memoir. \u201cI need to read more before I say anything about it,\u201d Williams, 38, said in an interview with Variety on Tuesday, April 14. Williams explained she was at the portion of the book where Dunham, 39, wrote about the table read [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt was a very brief relationship but when I told them that, they were like, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s a fun story,\u2019\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

During Girls season 5, Elijah meets an older news anchor named Dill (Corey Stoll<\/strong>) while at a bar. Elijah and Dill hit it off and begin a romance. However, Dill eventually breaks up with Elijah due to their age difference.<\/p>\n

Us Weekly<\/em> has reached out to Cooper\u2019s spokesperson for comment.<\/p>\n

This was the first time Rannells had confirmed his romance with Cooper. When Girls<\/em> season 5 first aired in 2016, fans speculated about whether a famous newscaster was the inspiration for Dill. Cooper, who is a fan of the show, reacted to the fans\u2019 theories that Dill was based on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m obsessed with Girls<\/em>, but I\u2019m a few episodes behind. I just met Lena Dunham at Sundance and she didn\u2019t mention anything to me, but I\u2019d be flattered,\u201c the celebrity.land broadcaster told the celebrity.land<\/em><\/a> in 2016. \u201cWait \u2014 is that the guy Andrew Rannells\u2019 [character] is dating? I thought he was more of a [Bill<\/strong>] O\u2019Reilly<\/strong> character. I\u2019m a friend of Andrew\u2019s. I should ask him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rannells, for his part, played coy about the fans\u2019 comparisons between Cooper and Dill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the general idea that he\u2019s this powerful, you know, adult, is what\u2019s important,\u201d the Tony nominee said in an interview with Elle<\/em><\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n

Stoll also shared that his performance as Dill was all his doing and didn\u2019t take any inspiration from a public figure.<\/p>\n

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