Getting by with a little help from her friends. Jemima Kirke says she’s “so proud” of Girls costar and creator, Lena Dunham, for being open and honest about her ongoing health struggles. Kirke, 34, spoke with Us Weekly at the Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program Luncheon in New York City on Monday, November 4, and revealed exclusively why Dunham, 33, inspires her so much.
“She is someone who helps me on a daily basis as my friend, but to see her [open up], to be so bold and express herself so publicly is also inspiring,” the Untogether actress said. “I think she feels really genuinely happy. I think that hasn’t been the case for so long and I think it’s an earnest notion of wanting to share.”
On November 1, Dunham posted a photo of herself using a cane, speaking about her Ehler-Danlos syndrome. “This is what life is like when I’m struggling most with chronic pain,” the Not That Kind of Girl author wrote in the caption. “Thank you, sweet cane!”
Last year, Dunham penned a lengthy personal essay in Vogue about her decision to get a full hysterectomy after experiencing debilitating endometriosis pain for a decade. Following “years of complex surgeries measuring in the double digits” and unsuccessful attempts at other forms of therapy, the Girls star ultimately chose to undergo the procedure and have her uterus and cervix removed.
Though Dunham recently told Us exclusively that she’s feeling “stronger than ever,” Kirke recognized her former costar’s difficult battle to get to this place in her recoveries from both chronic pain and drug addiction. Dunham revealed on an episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast last year that she had struggled with misusing prescription pills and celebrated six months of sobriety in October 2018.
“Just because someone’s happy doesn’t mean that things are easy,” Kirke told Us. “It just means that they’re accepting of the struggle. I think for Lena accepting things and understanding things, she’s always had to write about them and it’s always been her way of understanding the world. She’s always been a very open person … oversharing and privacy means nothing to her.”
With reporting by Nicki Gostin
