Jemima Kirke is a British-born American artist and actress best known for her role as Jessa Johansson on the television series Girls.
Background
She is the daughter of Simon Kirke, the former drummer of the rock bands Bad Company and Free. Her mother is Lorraine (née Dellal) Kirke, 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.
Education
Rhode Island School of Design.
Career
Born in London to English parents, Kirke was raised in New York City. Her father is of English and Scottish descent and her mother is Jewish. Her maternal grandfather, Jack Dellal, was a British businessman of Iraqi Jewish descent, and Kirke"s maternal grandmother was Israeli.
Kirke has two sisters, Lola Kirke and Domino Kirke, the first of whom is also an actress.
She is a cousin of curator Alexander Dellal, shoe designer Charlotte Olympia Dellal and model Alice Dellal. Artist
Kirke majored in art as a student and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design.
In late 2011, she held an exhibition titled "A Brief History" through Skylight Projects. Acting
Kirke considers herself first and foremost an artist, although she fell into acting through roles she accepted for a number of her friends.
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 wasn"t enough money to pay professional actors. Although the film turned out to be profitable, Kirke received no payment. In 2011, Kirke appeared in the music video "Wring lieutenant Out" for the group Rival Schools.