Jemima Kirke | Celebrity Net Worth 2026

Biography & Early Wealth Journey

Jemima Kirke became widely known for playing the free-spirited Jessa Johansson on HBO's "Girls," appearing throughout the show's six-season run from 2012 to 2017. The series grew out of her longtime friendship and creative relationship with Lena Dunham, whom Kirke had known since they were students together in New York.

Kirke subsequently built a career that has moved between acting and visual art. Her television roles have included "Maniac," "Sex Education," "Conversations with Friends," and Apple's "City on Fire," while her film credits include "Tiny Furniture," "The Little Hours," "Untogether," "All These Small Moments," and "Sylvie's Love." She has also directed music videos and exhibited her paintings in galleries in New York and elsewhere.

Real estate has been another notable component of Kirke's finances. She bought a Carroll Gardens townhouse for just over $2 million in 2013 and sold it for $4.25 million in 2018. She later bought a colorful Red Hook property for approximately $2 million and sold it for $2.5 million in 2024. In 2026, Kirke and her mother jointly purchased a $2.35 million co-op in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.

Early Life and Education

Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts

Jemima Kirke was born on April 26, 1985, in London, England, and was raised primarily in New York City. Her father, Simon Kirke, is the drummer best known for his work with the rock bands Free and Bad Company. Her mother, Lorraine Kirke, worked as an interior designer and operated the vintage boutique Geminola in Manhattan.

Jemima grew up in a creative family. Her younger sister Lola became an actress, while her sister Domino became a musician and later married actor Penn Badgley.

Kirke attended Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn, an arts-focused private school where she became friends with Lena Dunham. She later attended the Rhode Island School of Design and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting in 2008.

Although acting would eventually make her famous, Kirke has repeatedly described herself primarily as an artist.

Girls

Kirke's path into acting was closely tied to Dunham.

She appeared in Dunham's 2010 independent film "Tiny Furniture," playing Charlotte, a friend of Dunham's character. Two years later, Dunham cast her as Jessa Johansson in the HBO series "Girls."

Jessa was introduced as a worldly, unpredictable young woman who returns to New York after years of traveling. Kirke's performance became one of the show's defining elements, particularly as Jessa evolved from a seemingly carefree outsider into a much more complicated character.

Wealth Trajectory & Future Earnings Projections

Kirke starred alongside Dunham, Allison Williams, Zosia Mamet, Adam Driver, and Alex Karpovsky.

"Girls" premiered in 2012 and ran for six seasons through 2017. The series became one of HBO's most discussed comedies of the decade and won multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Awards.

Kirke appeared throughout the show's entire run, making Jessa by far the role most closely associated with her acting career.

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Television Career After Girls

Following the conclusion of "Girls," Kirke continued taking television roles while remaining selective about acting.

In 2018, she appeared as Adelaide in five episodes of the Netflix limited series "Maniac," starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill.

Kirke returned to Netflix in 2021 for the third season of "Sex Education." She played Hope Haddon, the new headmistress of Moordale Secondary School, appearing opposite a cast that included Asa Butterfield and Gillian Anderson.

In 2022, she played Melissa Baines in "Conversations with Friends," the television adaptation of Sally Rooney's novel. Her character is a writer married to Nick, played by Joe Alwyn, whose affair with a younger woman destabilizes the relationships among the story's four central characters.

Kirke followed that with a starring role as Regan Hamilton-Sweeney in the 2023 Apple TV+ drama "City on Fire." The eight-episode series centered on a shooting in Central Park and a wealthy New York real-estate family whose secrets become connected to the investigation.

Her later television work has also included appearances on "Life & Beth" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

Film Career

Kirke made her feature-film debut in Lena Dunham's "Tiny Furniture" in 2010.

After several years focused primarily on "Girls," she returned to film with a supporting role in the 2015 supernatural comedy "Ava's Possessions." In 2017, she appeared in the medieval black comedy "The Little Hours."

Kirke had one of her most substantial movie roles in 2018's "Untogether," playing novelist Andrea opposite Jamie Dornan. Her sister Lola Kirke also appeared in the film, along with Ben Mendelsohn and Billy Crystal.

That same year, Jemima appeared in "All These Small Moments" and "Wild Honey Pie!" She later played the Countess in the 2020 romantic drama "Sylvie's Love."

Painting and Art Career

Kirke's interest in painting predates her acting career. She studied painting at RISD and continued producing and exhibiting artwork even while starring on "Girls."

Her work is primarily figurative and often focuses on portraits of women.

In 2011, Kirke presented "A Brief History," an exhibition of paintings, drawings, and mixed-media work through Skylight Projects. She subsequently exhibited work in San Francisco and New York.

One of her best-known shows was "The Ceremony," which opened at Sargent's Daughters on Manhattan's Lower East Side in 2017. The exhibition featured portraits of women wearing wedding dresses and explored ideas surrounding marriage, femininity, tradition, and identity.

The subjects included Kirke herself, her sisters, and friends including Allison Williams. Kirke created the series while reflecting on the end of her own long-term relationship.

She later returned to Sargent's Daughters with another solo exhibition, "Scamp."

Music Videos and Directing

Kirke has also worked extensively in music videos, both in front of and behind the camera.

She appeared opposite Zayn Malik in the video for "Dusk Till Dawn" and starred in Alex Cameron and Angel Olsen's video for "Stranger's Kiss."

Her collaboration with Australian musician Alex Cameron became particularly extensive. Kirke directed videos for songs including "Studmuffin96," "Marlon Brando," and "Best Life," and also appeared in several of Cameron's videos.

Cameron's 2019 album "Miami Memory" was heavily inspired by his relationship with Kirke, who also served as an important creative collaborator while he was making the record.

Real Estate

Kirke has owned several notable properties in New York and has generated significant gains from at least one of her real-estate investments.

In 2013, she purchased a four-story townhouse on Clinton Street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, for $2.0365 million. The roughly 3,360-square-foot home underwent extensive renovations and incorporated French moldings, Italian marble mantels, and other decorative elements.

Kirke listed the property for $4.495 million in 2018 and ultimately sold it for $4.25 million. That's a gross increase of more than $2.2 million over her purchase price before accounting for renovations, financing expenses, taxes, commissions, and other costs.

Around the same period, Kirke purchased another home in Red Hook for approximately $1.99 million. The colorful five-bedroom property became particularly recognizable for its bold interiors, including pink rooms, exposed brick, painted woodwork, and a detached studio.

She listed the Red Hook home for $2.675 million in 2024 and sold it for approximately $2.5 million.

In September 2026, property records revealed that Kirke and her mother, Lorraine, jointly purchased a $2.35 million co-op at London Terrace Towers in Chelsea.

The approximately 1,750-square-foot apartment sits on the 11th floor and contains three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Features include coffered ceilings, built-in storage, dark hardwood floors, an open kitchen with a quartz waterfall island, and eight casement windows with Manhattan views.

Because the property was purchased jointly with her mother, the entire $2.35 million value should not automatically be attributed to Jemima personally.

Personal Life

Kirke began a long-term relationship with lawyer Michael Mosberg in 2009. They had two children together, daughter Rafaella and son Memphis.

The couple was widely described as married during their relationship, and Kirke herself often referred to Mosberg as her husband. She later clarified that she had not legally married her domestic partners and had used the word "husband" more informally.

Kirke and Mosberg separated in 2016, and their relationship ended around 2017.

She subsequently began dating Australian musician Alex Cameron in 2017. Their relationship became both romantic and creative, with Kirke directing his music videos and Cameron writing extensively about their relationship on his album "Miami Memory."

Kirke and Cameron separated around 2022. In a later interview, Kirke described herself as single and reflected on the end of the relationship and the way her views on love had changed as she grew older.

Kirke has remained closely connected to New York throughout her life, first through Brooklyn and later through her Manhattan real-estate investments, while continuing to work across acting, painting, and directing.

Kirke

Dunham