When Lena Dunham met Hilary Knight, famous for his Eloise drawings, she called it a very visceral, chill-inducing experience. She was meeting someone who’s work had had a profound on her growing up. He, in turn, felt he had known her all his life. They bonded over their creative sparks and collection. He tells her that Eloise, “this little thing in this little dress” is himself and she feels Eloise is in his DNA.
In the upcoming HBO documentary, It’s Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise, Dunham spends time with Knight at his home and hears his life story and how he came to be Kay Thompson’s illustrator of a series that made history. She’s genuinely intrigued by him and the “curated world” he lives in. They share a certain eccentricity and uniqueness unlike many. He shows her his belongings, films, art, really giving her complete access. She talks to his
I read the Eloise books to my daughter and I remember loving them. We watched her DVD’s and I loved her independence, her quirkiness. So did Dunham who tells us, “I remember having an awareness of Eloise and and feeling very strongly that is was mine. I now realize it’s a pretty universal feeling. Eloise does what she wants, when she wants it and she doesn’t brush her hair, she doesn’t care that her stomach hangs over her skirt. So there’s a lot to relate to when you’re a slightly weird child. She has a sense of place and a sense that she deserves to be where she is.”
Dunham and her writing and producing partner, Jenni Konner, do a marvelous job looking at the impact of Eloise on their peers from Fran Lebowitz, Tevi Gavonson and Mindy Kaling, as well as the impact Hilary had himself on family members. Their love for his work is sincere and genuine. They also tell us Knight’s story well, starting when he was a child when fantasy was “probably the most important drive in my life.”
Knight’s relationship with Thompson, an actress who lived on the 13th floor of the Plaza, was real and massive. It completely changed his life. They worked on three sequels and then she lost interest in the series, which caused a lot of resentment until her death in 1988.
Knight has continued to live a creative life and walk to his own beat ever since. I think that the uber-creative Dunham can relate to him. She says, “I think, in many ways, Hilary does not want to live in the world as we know it. He wants to live in a curated world that he’s created.”
The documentary is a look at an unusually interesting man and his similarities with Dunham (they both share a tattoo and like to have dinner at 6pm) and it’s fascinating. Watch it tomorrow night on HBO at 9pm EST.
Disclosure: I’m a member of HBO’s Documentary Diplomats and was sent a review copy of It’s Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise in advance of its premiere to screen. All opinions are my own.
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