‘Girls’ Co-Star Christopher Abbott Is Leaving the Series

Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times Christopher Abbott played Charlie on the HBO coming-of-age comedy “Girls.”

The on-again, off-again romance between Marnie and Charlie on the HBO comedy “Girls” is very much off. Christopher Abbott, the actor who played Charlie on that series, will not return for its third season, HBO said Thursday morning, confirming a report that appeared in the Page Six column of The New York Post.

“Girls,” a New York coming-of-age comedy created by and starring Lena Dunham, and produced by Ms. Dunham, Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner, has become one of HBO’s most talked-about series since its debut in 2012. It has rapidly made stars out of its young actors, including Mr. Abbott (“Martha Marcy May Marlene”), who played Charlie, a seemingly aimless young man who, after a bad breakup with Marnie (Allison Williams), finds success by creating a popular iPhone app.

Charlie and Marnie seemed to have reconciled in the Season 2 finale of “Girls,” but Mr. Abbott’s departure suggests that plot line won’t extend very far into Season 3, which is currently in production. A press representative for Mr. Abbott said in an e-mail on Thursday morning that he was “grateful for the experience of collaborating with Lena, Judd, and the entire ‘Girls’ cast and crew, but right now he’s working on numerous other projects and has decided not to return to the show.”