Jemima Kirke

Jemima Jo Kirke (born 26 April 1985) is a British-American artist, actress and director. She gained international acclaim through her role as Jessa Johansson in the 2012 HBO series '' Girls''. She made her film debut in the 2005 indie short '' Smile for the Camera'' and her feature-length debut in '' Tiny Furniture'' (2010), as a favour for her childhood friend Lena Dunham.

Early life and family

Born in London on 26 April 1985, Jemima Kirke moved to New York when she was 11 years old and was then raised in New York City. She is the daughter of Simon Kirke, the former drummer of the rock bands Bad Company and Free. Her mother is Lorraine Kirke (née Dellal), the owner of Geminola, a vintage boutique in New York City that supplied a number of outfits for the television series ''Sex and the City''. Her character Jessa wore a wedding dress from Geminola in the season finale of the first season of ''Girls''; also, earlier in her career, she was featured along with her sisters in a fashion piece in ''Teen Vogue'' in which they wore clothing from the store.

Her father is of English and Scottish descent (the Kirkes being a junior branch of a family of Nottinghamshire landed gentry and descending also from the Gibson-Craig baronets) and her mother is Jewish. Kirke's maternal grandfather, Jack Dellal, was a British businessman of Iraqi-Jewish descent and her maternal grandmother, Zehava Helmer, was an Israeli flight attendant for El Al. Kirke has two sisters, actress Lola Kirke and singer and actress Domino Kirke. She is a cousin of curator Alexander Dellal, shoe designer Charlotte Olympia Dellal and model/photographer Alice Dellal.

Art

Jemima Kirke majored in art as a student and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2008. In late 2011, she held an exhibition titled "A Brief History" through Skylight Projects. In late 2017 to early 2018, she had a show at Sargeant's Daughters, a Lower East Side gallery, where she exhibited portrait-style paintings, some of them neck-up, others full-figure, of women in their wedding dresses. Kirke was inspired by her own divorce and the exhibition also contained a self-portrait of Kirke in her wedding dress and veil. In 2019 she opened a solo show called “SCAMP” at Sargeant's Daughters gallery.

In September 2022, Kirke presented for Batsheva Hay's spring collection at Ben's Kosher Deli.

Acting

Growing up in the West Village, Kirke found herself accepting a number of roles on her friends' projects. Dunham asked Kirke to take on a supporting role in her debut film '' Tiny Furniture''. Kirke and a number of other friends were called upon as a favour to Dunham since there was not enough money to pay professional actors. Although the film turned out to be profitable, Kirke received no payment. Kirke reunited with Dunham in the HBO series ''Girls'', appearing in all six seasons from 2011 to 2017 as the character Jessa Johansson. Kirke next had supporting roles in the dark comedy films ''Ava's Possessions'' and '' The Little Hours''. In 2018, Kirke starred alongside her real-life sister Lola Kirke in Emma Forrest's film '' Untogether''. The film premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.

In 2011, Kirke appeared in the music video "Wring It Out" for the group Rival Schools. Both this music video and '' Smile for the Camera'' were directed by her friend Jordan Galland. In 2017, she appeared in the music video for " Gotta Get a Grip" by Mick Jagger, directed by Saam Farahmand and appeared opposite Alex Cameron in his music video for the song "Stranger's Kiss". In September 2017, Kirke appeared opposite Zayn Malik in his music video for the song " Dusk Till Dawn".

In 2021, Kirke appeared in the Netflix series ''Sex Education'' in the role of Hope, headmistress of Moordale Secondary School. In 2021, it was announced that Kirke had accepted a role in '' Conversations with Friends'', a series based on the book of the same name by Sally Rooney, in which she plays Melissa, an older, experienced writer fascinated by a younger couple. In 2023, Kirke starred in the Apple TV+ series ''City on Fire'', based on the book of the same name.

Directing

Kirke's directorial debut was in 2019 when she spearheaded the video for the track "Mama" by her sister Lola Kirke. She would go on to direct other projects including multiple music videos and a short film with Alex Cameron.

Activism

In 2015, Kirke partnered with the Center for Reproductive Rights to create a public service announcement to advance the future of reproductive healthcare. In the PSA, Kirke discusses the abortion she received in college where she could not afford the anesthesia in addition to the procedure and went without.

Personal life

Kirke resides in Brooklyn, New York and East Hampton (town). Kirke has two children from a relationship that began in 2009 and ended in 2017. In an interview from 2024, Kirke stated that she has never been married to her domestic partners but instead referred to them as her "husbands" despite not being legally married to them.
Kirke began a relationship with Australian musician and singer songwriter Alex Cameron in July 2017. Cameron has said that his 2019 album '' Miami Memory'' is primarily influenced by his relationship with Kirke. The couple has since separated.

Kirke is close friends with Lena Dunham, the creator of ''Tiny Furniture'' and ''Girls''. They became friends while attending Saint Ann's School in New York City. Kirke's brother in law is actor Penn Badgley, through her sister Domino.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirke, Jemima
1985 births
Living people
Free (band)
21st-century British actresses
Actresses from London
Actresses from Brooklyn
American film actresses
American television actresses
American people of Iraqi-Jewish descent
American people of Israeli descent
American people of Scottish descent
Artists from London
British expatriate actresses in the United States
21st-century British women painters
English film actresses
English people of Iraqi-Jewish descent
English people of Israeli descent
English people of Scottish descent
British people of Iraqi-Jewish descent
British people of Israeli descent
English television actresses
Jewish English actresses
Rhode Island School of Design alumni
Saint Ann's School (Brooklyn) alumni
People from East Hampton (town), New York
People from Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
English Ashkenazi Jews
American Mizrahi Jews
20th-century American Sephardic Jews
21st-century American Sephardic Jews
Dellal family