The Crush: Jemima Kirke

You know that girl at school: beyond cool, beautiful, a bit strange, big trouble? The one every kid, even you, was a little in love with; who disappeared to India with a boy named Skylar for a term, studied art in Paris one summer, claimed she’d smoked opium, and inked her own tattoos?

Well, Jemima Kirke is her and we are the awkward kid with braces desperate for her approval. OK, the English actress, artist, daughter of Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke, and star of US comedy smash Girls (coming soon to Sky Atlantic) isn’t quite that girl any more, having recently had her second baby, but as she and her childhood friend Lena Dunham (co-star and creator of both Tiny Furniture and Girls) will attest, she certainly used to be. We love Jem’s ‘give a shit?’ style, which would make anyone less blessed with big eyes, bee-stung lips and lovely hair look shabby.

Though a reluctant actress (‘I’m trying not to identify as any one thing. I make stuff’), her past as a rock star’s wild child means she can play bohemian and bitchy better than anyone. Jemima, who in real life tattooed a Yorkshire terrier on Dunham’s ribcage, says she’s got ‘a handful’ of other tattoos she wants to put on people, but can’t find anyone who will let her. Listen, Jemima, invite us over, get us drunk, make us practise kissing and we’ll say yes to anything.