Jemima Kirke tattooed Lena Dunham
Jemima Kirke tattooed Lena Dunham, After stealing scenes in Lena Dunham’s breakout indie, Tiny Furniture, as the glamorous counterpart to Dunham’s awkward protagonist, Jemima Kirke reunites with her real-life friend on-screen in HBO’s new comedy Girls. The series—which premieres on April 15th and is already drawing widespread praise from critics for its honest and often ugly depiction of twentysomething females’ coming of age—co-stars Kirke again as a chic free spirit, but this time with her own sticky scenarios to grapple with.
The English-born daughter of Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke, Jemima dialed VF.com recently to discuss her artistic upbringing, off-screen relationship with Dunham, and the handful of tattoos she has in mind for anyone who can supply her with ink and needle.
Your parents are both artists. Were they pretty lax about what profession you chose, or did they steer you toward the arts?
No. Well, how about I don’t generalize? In my family there wasn’t a freedom necessarily. I think there were a handful of [careers] that would be acceptable, and they were all something artistic. It’s the same thing with any other stereotypical family where they want their kid to be a doctor. I’m an artist. I’m a painter. But “actress” was not on that list of things.
You’ve known Lena since high school. After working with her on Tiny Furniture, how did she convince you to take part in Girls—especially considering your reluctance about acting?
I honestly don’t know. [Laughs.] I think she convinced me because it was a pilot and I was really proud of her to get the offer to make a pilot. I didn’t think ahead. I’m not the star of it, so it’s kind of fine. “I’d love to appear in your pilot.” Then it became this huge thing. In my mind, I didn’t really sign up for this. I signed up for the pilot, but this is where it took me. It’s great.
And you filmed that first episode immediately after having a baby. That sounds like a pretty supportive friend.
I know, right? To be honest, when she offered [the job] to me, it was right before I had the baby, and I was worried that I would fall out of doing the things that I loved to do, . . . the things that made me “me.” It was really convenient because I had been freaking out about not being able to work again, and here she was telling me that I could go right back to work.
Did you have a hand in shaping your characters in Girls and Tiny Furniture?
Yes, I think there’s a reason why she gave me these roles. Not necessarily because our behaviors are the same, but because perhaps there was a similarity historically between the characters and me. I definitely don’t act like those characters, but there is a lot that I can understand. I think there is also a reason why she gave me such a similar character in the show to the movie. And that reason is that I don’t know that my range in acting is that big. I think that I can do just a few different things. I’m not trained.
Are you interested in going against type to prove, to yourself at least, that you have range?
Yeah, if something cool came up, I’d totally consider it. But I’m not looking for anything—let’s put it that way.
In both the film and the movie, your character gives off this cool-girl vibe that Lena’s character can’t resist. In spite of her actions and behavior, Lena’s character always forgives her and almost holds her on a pedestal. Does that cool-girl vibe come naturally to you?
I think that like the character, I can definitely act like that. It might be the defense mechanism I use. It’s something that I can turn on whenever I feel I need to. It’s not a good or bad thing; it’s just a quality. If you’re feeling vulnerable or your sense of self-esteem is low, you do something to protect yourself. And I think with the characters that I’ve played, I decided that they do that. [Laughs.]
Is it true that Lena let you tattoo her?
Yeah! That was a fun one. 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. Lena let me do one of them, which is like a Yorkshire terrier on her ribcage.
How did you convince her to let you do that?
Oh, it was easy. It was so easy. Lena, to me, is the easiest person to shop for. Anything that I would buy for her, she would find it cool somehow. If there’s something that I am into that may be a little bit out there for some people, Lena will always be the person to meet me there. With the tattoo, it’s the same thing.
The show is so much about finding your own identity, which is something that Lena’s character struggles with—
Yeah, in a really not-pretty way. It’s not pretty. It’s not cool, and it never looks cool.
How much do you relate to the awkwardness of that phase?
It’s something I totally relate to, finding my own identity and having it be totally embarrassing. But I think that I always had a way of pulling it off. In those awkward moments, I would tap into that mechanism of making it look cool even though it was totally awkward. Sometimes, with being awkward and being embarrassed obviously, I think I was like, “I’m going to forget about that humility thing and just be fucking awesome.” You know? [Laughs.] I don’t do that anymore. I think I’ve figured out the icky parts already.
The English-born daughter of Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke, Jemima dialed VF.com recently to discuss her artistic upbringing, off-screen relationship with Dunham, and the handful of tattoos she has in mind for anyone who can supply her with ink and needle.
Your parents are both artists. Were they pretty lax about what profession you chose, or did they steer you toward the arts?
No. Well, how about I don’t generalize? In my family there wasn’t a freedom necessarily. I think there were a handful of [careers] that would be acceptable, and they were all something artistic. It’s the same thing with any other stereotypical family where they want their kid to be a doctor. I’m an artist. I’m a painter. But “actress” was not on that list of things.
You’ve known Lena since high school. After working with her on Tiny Furniture, how did she convince you to take part in Girls—especially considering your reluctance about acting?
I honestly don’t know. [Laughs.] I think she convinced me because it was a pilot and I was really proud of her to get the offer to make a pilot. I didn’t think ahead. I’m not the star of it, so it’s kind of fine. “I’d love to appear in your pilot.” Then it became this huge thing. In my mind, I didn’t really sign up for this. I signed up for the pilot, but this is where it took me. It’s great.
And you filmed that first episode immediately after having a baby. That sounds like a pretty supportive friend.
I know, right? To be honest, when she offered [the job] to me, it was right before I had the baby, and I was worried that I would fall out of doing the things that I loved to do, . . . the things that made me “me.” It was really convenient because I had been freaking out about not being able to work again, and here she was telling me that I could go right back to work.
Did you have a hand in shaping your characters in Girls and Tiny Furniture?
Yes, I think there’s a reason why she gave me these roles. Not necessarily because our behaviors are the same, but because perhaps there was a similarity historically between the characters and me. I definitely don’t act like those characters, but there is a lot that I can understand. I think there is also a reason why she gave me such a similar character in the show to the movie. And that reason is that I don’t know that my range in acting is that big. I think that I can do just a few different things. I’m not trained.
Are you interested in going against type to prove, to yourself at least, that you have range?
Yeah, if something cool came up, I’d totally consider it. But I’m not looking for anything—let’s put it that way.
In both the film and the movie, your character gives off this cool-girl vibe that Lena’s character can’t resist. In spite of her actions and behavior, Lena’s character always forgives her and almost holds her on a pedestal. Does that cool-girl vibe come naturally to you?
I think that like the character, I can definitely act like that. It might be the defense mechanism I use. It’s something that I can turn on whenever I feel I need to. It’s not a good or bad thing; it’s just a quality. If you’re feeling vulnerable or your sense of self-esteem is low, you do something to protect yourself. And I think with the characters that I’ve played, I decided that they do that. [Laughs.]
Is it true that Lena let you tattoo her?
Yeah! That was a fun one. 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. Lena let me do one of them, which is like a Yorkshire terrier on her ribcage.
How did you convince her to let you do that?
Oh, it was easy. It was so easy. Lena, to me, is the easiest person to shop for. Anything that I would buy for her, she would find it cool somehow. If there’s something that I am into that may be a little bit out there for some people, Lena will always be the person to meet me there. With the tattoo, it’s the same thing.
The show is so much about finding your own identity, which is something that Lena’s character struggles with—
Yeah, in a really not-pretty way. It’s not pretty. It’s not cool, and it never looks cool.
How much do you relate to the awkwardness of that phase?
It’s something I totally relate to, finding my own identity and having it be totally embarrassing. But I think that I always had a way of pulling it off. In those awkward moments, I would tap into that mechanism of making it look cool even though it was totally awkward. Sometimes, with being awkward and being embarrassed obviously, I think I was like, “I’m going to forget about that humility thing and just be fucking awesome.” You know? [Laughs.] I don’t do that anymore. I think I’ve figured out the icky parts already.
Categories:
0 comments:
Post a Comment