BLAZING HER OWN TRAIL, ONSCREEN & OFF

New York, April 2023

Left Dress **Collina Strada**, jewellery Jemima’s own
Right Full look **Louis Vuitton**

“I'm reading poetry at the moment,” JEMIMA KIRKE told me, from her sun-filled Brooklyn kitchen. “Some old Bukowski poems. His books are so brutal, but his poems are very tender. Whenever someone, like Bukowski, who can be so offensive and brutal — anytime you get to see that tender side, it’s something really special.” Perhaps it’s that appreciation and understanding of the duality of being human that makes Kirke such a dynamic artist. Although it’s been more than a decade since she made her television debut as the free-spirited Jessa on HBO’s Girls — a character inspired by a young Kirke — she’s still gracing our screens with the same magnetism that drew us to her back then. But now, the actor and painter is bringing years of experience to her roles — on screen and off.

Since Girls, Kirke has taken on a number of television and film roles. More recently, in 2021, she appeared as Headmistress Hope Haddon in Netflix’s critically acclaimed series, Sex Education, and just last year she starred in Hulu’s Conversations with Friends, an adaptation of the Sally Rooney novel of the same name. Now, she’s starring in Apple TV+’s new series, City on Fire — also based on a novel of the same name. Kirke is particular about the jobs she takes. Not only does it have to make sense for her personally, as she navigates life as a single mom to two kids, the role has to also pique her interest.

“Coming out of Sex Education and Conversations with Friends, and now with City on Fire, there was a thread of maturity,” she said. “It felt quite lucky that I was on this streak of coming from Girls where I played someone in their 20s, who hadn't figured anything out, was a real loose cannon, and the opposite of grounded — to these more recent three women. I can relate to both sides — that Jessa character and any one of these women.”

When speaking of her latest role as City on Fire’s Regan Hamilton, she said, “This is not a character that I've played before.” Hamilton, a seemingly but- toned-up wife and mother who’s thrown a number of curveballs and put through various challenges throughout the season, appears to be a character we’ve seen before. But in Kirke’s portrayal, there’s an unspoken depth to her. “What could she be if underneath it all she has an edge? Or maybe she once was more free spirited? In my head, the way I rationalized me playing her, was that she wasn't always like this.”

Peeling back those layers of characters like Regan has been a welcome challenge for Kirke. “I played Jessa for so long that it’s more fun at this point to play characters who have more responsibility and more at stake in their lives,” she said. “When you're playing someone who's a well-written and well-rounded character, you can't be broad. There's much more at play underneath everything. You can't be obvious; there's no punchline. You're playing a more realistic person. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything better about a realistic character than a fantastical character — I like playing both. They’re actually harder to play, to be honest, because the lines themselves can't carry the scene. With characters like Regan, I get to develop them. I have to be coming from a very specific place in order to deliver the line in a way that works.”

For the Rhode Island School of Design graduate, where Kirke received her B.F.A. in painting, her artistry extends beyond what we see on screen. Despite her busy schedule, she still finds time to paint. “I'm working on a series right now. I don't know exactly what it is yet, but it's there,” she said. “I go in there every day, even if no actual painting takes place. The thing about being an artist is that you need a runway to not know what you're doing. Sometimes sitting there and looking at the wall is part of the work.”

As Kirke continues to evolve, personally and professionally, she’s not only defining (and redefining) what it means to be an artist for herself and on her own terms, she’s also creating space for the next generation to do the same. Kirke teaches a !lm class for 15 to 20 year-olds, most of whom are from underserved communities, at Brooklyn’s Red Hook Art Project. Through her classes at the non-profit, she’s exposing students to the wide-ranging world of film and the opportunities it presents. “I think there's a message out there to kids, especially more marginalized communities, where watching TV or watching movies is lazy,” she said, “But watching a good movie and appreciating what you're seeing, or even critiquing what you're seeing, can change your life.”