Some people join Instagram so they have somewhere to share their best travel snaps. Others seek an outlet for their selfies. And a select few are purely on there for the cute animal accounts.

But Girls star Jemima Kirke, who opened an account on Monday, says she joined the photo-sharing platform for a much less conventional reason: “free s***”.

To announce her debut on Instagram, the 33-year-old actor posted a candid black and white shot of her wearing a sheer lace and mesh bra and a cloth turban on her head. She also appears to be drinking a smoothie in the photograph.

“They told me I’d get more free s*** if I had an Instagram account,” reads Kirke’s caption alongside a fingers crossed emoji.

The actor’s decision to join the platform was warmly welcomed by her close friend and Girls co-star Lena Dunham, who posted a photograph of Kirke on her own Instagram feed, writing to three million followers: “Being best friends with her is like a hair raising all-nighter with some very romantic interludes.

“Let’s hope y’all get the same treatment on Instagram. Welcome to the jungle [sic]”.

While Kirke has been on Twitter since 2014, the London-born actor maintains a fairly private profile, meaning news of her Instagram account is bound to spark a flurry of excitement among her fans.

Within just a few hours, Kirke has garnered more than 35,000 followers and her debut post has attracted 11,000 likes.

Among them is American actor Liv Tyler, who commented on Kirke’s post with a series of enthusiastic emojis.