<\/p>\n
Andrew Rannells is opening up about a past romance that not only involved a fellow celeb but also his role in one of HBO\u2019s most beloved shows.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
During a recent episode of The Daily Beast\u2019s \u201cObsessed\u201d podcast<\/a><\/span>, the \u201cGirls\u201d star \u2014 who played Elijah Krantz, Hannah\u2019s gay ex-boyfriend from college and later roommate throughout the show\u2019s six-season run \u2014 revealed that he once had a \u201cvery brief\u201d relationship with Anderson Cooper<\/a> in his mid-20s. And according to the actor, that experience ultimately inspired a storyline for his character in the Lena Dunham-created comedy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI told Lena and [co-showrunner] Jenni Konner a story about when I was 25 that I had dated Anderson Cooper, and I told them about the experience and what that was like, and then it became the story that Elijah had in the series,\u201d Rannells explained.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The storyline in question emerges in Season 5 when Elijah starts dating an older, successful news anchor named Dill Harcourt (played by Corey Stoll). Much like Rannells\u2019 real-life love affair with Cooper, however, Elijah and Dill\u2019s relationship proved to be short-lived.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Their romance came to an end in the Season 5 finale after Dill turned down Elijah\u2019s proposal to be his boyfriend, telling him he\u2019s looking for \u201csomeone less aimless.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Even so, Rannells told \u201cObsessed\u201d host Kevin Fallon that Dunham and Konner found his fling with Cooper compelling enough to build the Dill character around it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWhen I told them that, they were like, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s a fun story,\u2019\u201d the actor said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n During the series\u2019 run, there was speculation about the real-life inspiration behind Dill, but no one involved with the show ever officially confirmed any connection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When Stoll was asked in a 2016 interview with Queerty<\/a> whether Dill had been modeled after Cooper, he declined to draw any parallels, saying, \u201cI don\u2019t know. I was playing Dill Harcourt. I<\/em> did not base this character on anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Similarly, Rannells initially pushed back against theories linking Dill to Cooper while discussing Elijah and Dill\u2019s breakup episode with Elle<\/a> that same year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI think the general idea that he\u2019s this powerful, you know, adult, is what\u2019s important,\u201d the actor explained. \u201cFor my money, his job could have been any number of things. It just represents that he\u2019s very much from the outside of these characters\u2019 world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He continued: \u201cWhen we shot that party sequence from Sunday\u2019s episode, it was in this beautiful apartment, in beautiful clothes \u2014 it\u2019s probably the best I\u2019ve ever been dressed on the show \u2014 and it felt very foreign, like all of a sudden we were shooting this completely different show, because we were in this very grown-up situation. That\u2019s what Dill represents.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n