The Industry Cast Tease What to Expect From Season 4 as They Celebrate in Manhattan
The boom is back. On Thursday evening, London’s arbiters of excess were in town and ready to have a good time. Ahead of Industry’s hotly-anticipated return to screens this Sunday, the cast reunited for a screening and wrap party; quaffing Champagne and bumping caviar in a way that would make their on-screen alter-egos proud.
Hot on the heels of an explosive season 3, this slate of eight episodes sees several new faces joining the action. “My first day on set was very sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. It was like, ‘Welcome to Industry—now show us your bum,’” Toheeb Jimoh, who plays “chill” and self-assured Mostyn Asset Management trader Kwabena Bannerman, told Vogue on the night. “I was a big fan of the show, so I knew what I was signing up for.”
Also among the inductees into the debaucherous and devilish trenches is an all-grown-up—and now brunette with bangs—Kiernan Shipka, who splashes onto screens as a rave-loving executive assistant. “I actually open the show,” she shared. “It’s cool because the intro is very Industry but it’s with characters we don’t know, so it’s a total reset.”
At a pre-screening get-together, Shipka reunited with the show’s BAFTA-winning headliner Marisa Abela. “Marisa was my main inspiration for how a woman moves through the world of finance,” Shipka praised. “Watching her was a masterclass.”
Booked and busy, a newly-wed and glowing Abela arrived into the posh Twenty Two hotel in an immaculately-tailored McQueen tuxedo. She’d made it in record time, having just wrapped up filming with Seth Meyers across town moments earlier. “I can t sit down,” she laughed, referring to the crisp power suit. “Otherwise my stylist will have to steam it while it’s on me.” On the show, her beloved yet deeply-flawed character Yasmin Kara-Hanani boasted an impressive, red carpet-worthy wardrobe of her own, and Abela assured viewers that season 4 will be even bolder. “I think this season is iconic—especially for the female characters. Yas is almost like three different characters this time, and it’s very much reflected in her wardrobe. She’s become a world onto herself now. There is a specific reference—I’ll let people watch it for themselves to decipher—but there’s an influence from someone in culture that’s in her story,” she added cryptically.
Abela was not overstating the importance of the fashion to the character development. As guests took their seats at a screening at a nearby theater, once Myha’la’s Harper Stern made her screen debut in a formidable four-piece heather gray-hued outfit, the room erupted in cheers. “Laura Smith, our costume designer, outdid herself,” the actress told Vogue. “Harper’s wardrobe is like her dreams, realized. She’s now showing the world who she is on the inside by what’s on the outside: she has money, she has taste, and she has a lot of shoulder pads! She’s armoring herself for battle.” Kitted out herself in a custom Miu Miu leather apron-style dress, Myha’la admitted that she’s intrigued how people are going to take a particular scene in the first episode. “There’s a big ass…surprise,” she laughed. “I have mixed feelings about it. It’s crazy and it’s shocking. But hell yeah, it sets the tone for the season.” And while viewers almost choked on their truffle- and fresh parmesan-topped popcorn in the theater at said moment, it is quintessential Industry.
This season also sees a new chapter in the volatile relationship between Harper and Ken Leung’s Eric Tao, who happen to be real-life neighbors in Brooklyn too. “Myha’la is so easy to play with—she really frees you up as an actor,” Leung commended. “This season, Eric sees Harper as a way to reach his daughter. He asks her to get to know her differently so they can learn about each other in a way that they haven’t before.”
As actor Sagar Radia arrived, his cast mates gushed over his cream bouclé jacket. “Rishi is in survival mode for sure,” he said of his “chaos merchant” character. “He’s a widower and a single dad; a fraction of the person he once was—but he’s still hustling.” Yet fear not, there’s still new levels for him to stoop to: “In episode 4, he’s at rock bottom. Just when you think he couldn’t get any lower, he digs further. It’s a fascinating moment.”
Bubbly Sweetpea Golightly—aka actress Miriam Petche—is also grappling with rock bottom moments of her own. “She ended on the front foot last season, but she’s very much on the back foot this season as something from her past resurfaces and she has to deal with it.” (Unfazed in real life, the breakthrough star was cool, calm, and collected in a very Sweetpea-esque suited-up 16Arlington outfit cinched with a Tom Ford belt.)
Post-ep, a crowd of hundreds of people made their way to The Twenty Two’s Café Zaffri for Moët, martinis, and passed bites—but more importantly, to try to catch creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay for a blow-by-blow recap. “Micky and Konrad are incredible. They’re such a great resource,” said Kal Penn, who also joins this season, of the former bankers. “I asked them a thousand questions about the finance business and the subtext to everything. I think the world of them.” Penn is introduced as the messy but somewhat endearing CEO of Tender, a company that’s integral to the storyline. “I wouldn’t say he’s ‘kind’ exactly,” he laughed. “But I’ve had bosses like him—I know exactly how a guy like that thinks and operates.”
Rounding out the new bold face names is Charlie Heaton, a dogged financial journalist who’s introduced in the very first frame. “He’s got a massive chip on his shoulder,” Heaton said. “When I was reading for the part, my own accent slipped out and Mickey and Konrad were like, ‘That’s it. That’s the one we want.’”
“We’re quite humbled….for once,” Down joked. “We started developing this show in 2016 and this is the most cinematic and operatic season yet. There’s 150 speaking parts and we reckon we’ve got the best cast on television. Well, apart from The Pitt,” Konrad added with a laugh. “But really—they all came with huge profiles and fit so seamlessly into the show.”
As it enjoyed its first official party stateside, Industry proved that it’s certainly captured the market share. As executive producer Jane Tranter put it, it’s gone from “the little engine that could” to “the little engine that parked itself on the f*cking tarmac.”
Season 4, episode one airs on HBO on Sunday at 9 p.m. EST.
Dave Allocca / Starpix1/13Marisa Abela and Myha la
Dave Allocca / Starpix2/13Mickey Down and Kiernan Shipka
