Jemima Kirke 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, as a favour for her childhood friend Lena Dunham. In 2017, she starred in Zayn‘s music video for the single “Dusk Till Dawn” featuring Sia.
Years active: 2005–present
Born age: 26 April 1985, 39 years old and 6 months, Westminster, London, England
Sun Sign: Taurus
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 5′ 2″ – 1.57 m
Measurements: 32-24-33 in – 81-61-84 cm
Bra size: 32B US – 70B EU
Jemima Kirke in CITY ON FIRE (2023-)
Jemima Kirke in GIRLS (2012)
Jemima Kirke in GIRLS (2012)
Jemima Kirke in GIRLS (2012)
Jemima Kirke in STRANGER'S KISS (2017)
Jemima Kirke in STRANGER'S KISS (2017)
Jemima Kirke in STRANGER'S KISS (2017)
Jemima Kirke in TINY FURNITURE (2010)
Jemima Kirke in TINY FURNITURE (2010)
Jemima Kirke in UNTOGETHER (2019)
Jemima Kirke in UNTOGETHER (2019)
Jemima Kirke in UNTOGETHER (2019)
Jemima Kirke in UNTOGETHER (2019)
Jemima Kirke in UNTOGETHER (2019)
Jemima Kirke in UNTOGETHER (2019)
Jemima Kirke in Bust Magazine
Jemima Kirke Photoshoot by McCurdy
Jemima Kirke Photoshoot by McCurdy
Jemima Kirke Photoshoot by McCurdy
Jemima Kirke Photoshoot by McCurdy
Jemima Kirke Photoshoot by McCurdy
Jemima Kirke Photoshoot by McCurdy
Jemima Kirke Photoshoot by McCurdy
Jemima Kirke Photoshoot by McCurdy
Early life and family
Kirke was 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. 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.
Fine art
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 September 2022, Kirke presented for Batsheva Hay’s spring collection at Ben’s Kosher Deli.
Acting
Growing up in 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 onto direct other projects including multiple music videos and a satire 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
Father: Simon Kirke (Drummer)
Mother: Lorraine Kirke (Interior Designer)
Siblings: Lola Kirke (Younger Sister), Domino Kirke (Older Sister), Simon Kirke, Jr. (Younger Brother), Gregory Morris (Half-Brother)
Spouse Name: Michael Mosberg (m. 2009-2017)
Children Name: Rafella Israel Mosberg (Daughter), Memphis Kirke Mosberg (Son)
Kirke resides in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn and East Hampton. She married lawyer Michael Mosberg in 2009 and they have two children. In January 2017, it was announced Kirke and Mosberg had split. The couple had reportedly separated in the summer of 2016.
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 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.
Jemima Kirke Career Highlights
First Film: Tiny Furniture (2010)
First TV Show: Girls (2012)
Jemima Kirke Interesting Facts
Orange is her favorite color.
She likes to grow her armpit hair.
Jemima Kirke loves to paint other people.
She has been featured in many music videos as well including “Gotta Get a Grip” by Mick Jagger, “Stranger’s Kiss” by Alex Cameron and “Dusk Till Dawn” by Zayn Malik.
Is a visual artist, which is her top priority, and feels that acting is secondary.
Has 2 children with her former husband Michael Mosberg – a daughter Rafella Israel Mosberg (b.October 2010) and a son Memphis Kirke Mosberg (b.November 20, 2012).
Met first husband in a doctor’s office when she had bronchitis.
Jemima’s father has English and Scottish ancestry. Jemima’s maternal grandfather, Jack Dellal, was of Iraqi Jewish descent. Jemima’s maternal grandmother, Zehava Helmer, was an Israeli of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
Sister-in-law of actor Penn Badgley.
Mother Lorraine runs Geminola, a vintage New York City boutique that supplied various outfits for the TV series Sex and the City (1998).
Dad Simon was formerly a drummer with British rock bands Free (“All Right Now”) (1968-73) and Bad Company (“Can’t Get Enough”) (1973- ).
She gave artistic feedback to actor Emet Mihajlo on a surrealist portrait using her own particular style; she titled the work “Prussian Blue”.
Quotes
I have a handful of tattoos that I really want to put on people that I can’t find anyone to let me give them to.
I don’t have the passion for acting that actors might have.
By the way, I’m funniest when I’m not being funny. I’m better to laugh at than with, pretty much.
Being humble and sweet is the hardest thing you can do.
When you’re literally carrying a child you can cut back on bad habits.
I’ve had a baby. I’ve had an abortion.
I’ve been painting and making things since I was little.
I want lots of kids and I want a garden and I hope to stay married to my husband. I hope to be working in some way that fulfills me.
I mean, I have worked out. I’ve always worked out a little, you know, when I felt it was, like… time.
I have to remember that for the most part people will see me for what I do, not what I say I do.
I come from a family of all women and one boy, my brother. We’re all women and we’re all precocious and opinionated and like to have fun and we always had friends in the house and we were always, like, half-naked.
But I’m interested in the Barnes Collection in Philadelphia. I hear there are some of the worst Matisses there. I like seeing bad art by good artists. It’s inspiring. I’m able to identify with them. It makes them real.
Acting is secondary – I don’t feel like it’s going to stick around because it’s not something I want to do forever. My art has always been my top priority and I have far more experience in that field than I do in film.
People are confusing me with a good actor when I’m just a good mimic. When someone asks me to play a nun from the fifteenth century, you’ll see what I mean.
I’ve never been one to just do what I’m told. I don’t say that necessarily with pride, it’s just something that has gotten me in trouble before.
I think I did a lot of really stupid stuff really quickly in my twenties and that sort of led me to want to sort of just relax a little bit. Relax a lot.
I think Damien Hirst is hilarious. And I think he’s a true artist. He’s not hilarious first; I think he is a real artist, and I also think he’s got an amazing sense of humor.
I know acting is not impersonating, but I’m good with impressions. I can do impressions of people I know, and people I’ve been, and roles that I’ve acted before.
I go to Florida sometimes for vacation. I actually really like Florida. It’s a weird place, it’s surreal. It’s so close, but you feel like you’re in another world or on an island.
I don’t have that drive to be in this field, climbing up, doing bit parts in movies to make a big movie. But I’m lucky I get to also do acting – it’s fun. I should probably just take an acting class on the weekends – that would be enough for me.
That’s what I paint, I paint people. They’re portraits, but you won’t always be pleased with the way you look in my paintings. Which is fine, I guess. Unless you’re buying it, and it’s of your kid!
Portraiture keeps me humble. It’s simple and straightforward. There is nothing more interesting I can make up than the figure sitting right in front of me.
My opinions of which of my works are good are vastly different than other people’s. There is one that I’m obsessed with but I swear… no one else has ever even commented on it. So I’m a bit shy to draw attention to it.
I’ll never have a best friend who is a man. It just doesn’t work that way. So many times young girls will be like, ‘I’m a guy’s girl.’ And I’m like, ‘No, you’re not. There’s no way a man can understand you like a woman, and you’re a guy’s girl because you’re threatened by other women.’ I was like that.
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