'Industry' Star Myha’la Is Ready For a Redemption Season
The star of HBO's buzzy finance drama Industry discusses her excitement for season three, her personal acting process, and her love for theater.
Photography CELESTE SLOMAN
Styled by YAEL QUINT
Myha’la is remarkably normal. The 28-year-old star of HBO's Industry battles acne, prioritizes comfort in her everyday style, carries a charming infatuation with vintage shopping, and has big dreams. Myha’la, who starred in a theatrical production of The Book of Mormon, had only been a working actress for three years by the time she was cast on Industry as Harper Stern, a driven young trading analyst at one of London’s leading investment banks. On August 11, the critically acclaimed British HBO series Industry returns for its highly-anticpated third season.
Despite the briskness of her celebrity, the budding star (who recently got engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Armando Rivera) is at ease returning to the hit show, professing she feels like “she is coming home.” Myha’la sat down with L’OFFICIEL to discuss her experience working with industry icons Ethan Hawke and Julia Roberts, the physical demand of shooting a television show, and her aspiration to return to her theater roots.
L’OFFICIEL: What is it like returning to the Industry set after a long break between seasons?
MYHA’LA: Every season has always been really dummy long, so every time I come back to it, I feel very much like I'm coming home. It feels like a reunion because it's always so long between the seasons, but it's comfortable. I'm so happy. I love all those people. I love the scripts, so it's always such a joy to come back to it, no matter how long we've been away from each other.
L’O: How are you feeling about season three?
M: Good. I'm always just excited for that shit to come out. I'm always like, "Let's get it to the people." It's ours for a time. We get to enjoy it, we get to create, we get to whatever, and then I'm just always so excited to share it with our audience because they hang on, man. So yeah, I'm ready to give it to them. I'm just always excited for whatever I do to come out, so the people who it belongs to can enjoy it.
L’O: How would you describe [your character] Harper's journey in Season 3?
M: How would I describe her journey? I don't know if this is true, this is definitely up for interpretation, but when I was speaking to [showrunners] Mickey [Down] and Konrad [Kay] about the season before we started, they were like, "This is Harper's redemption season." And I was like, amazing. So let's call it that, and then when it comes out, people can decide whether or not that's true.
L’O: Everything is up for interpretation, which is why I love film and television. Some people are very wrong, though.
M: Yeah, I love that. I agree. I think a lot of people are wrong. I agree with you.
L’O: Let's be honest, most people are wrong. You've done so much over the past couple years. You were in Leave the World Behind, and you worked with some true Hollywood legends in that [Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke]. What was that like for you?
M: It was awesome. Everyone was super nice. Aside from the fact that they're legends in their own rights, icons in their own right, they're really good people and they care about the work in the same way that I care about the work. So we just got to show up every day and do something good and do something fun and make shit together, and that is super rewarding. I feel very lucky to say that I have friends in them, I have confidants in them, and I have people in the industry I can lean on if I need to. They're just good, nice people who do good work.
L’O: How did working on that project compare to some of the projects you've worked on before?
M: The biggest culture shock was in terms of process, because what I'm used to is TV… but not as much money, and shooting in a shorter period of time. Leave the World Behind was the most expensive, largest set, with the biggest names on it that I'd ever been on. There was just more money, which means there was more time. Nobody was in a hurry. I was like, oh, I don't have to hurry up and be good on the first take? That's crazy to me. That was a concept I was not prepared for. That was nice, actually, being able to sit in things a lot longer. It was an adjustment, but it was one that I was grateful for in the end.
L’O: How does acting in a film compare to acting as the lead in a television show?
M: In terms of process, like how I come to the work and how I execute the work, it's not different at all. The only difference is sometimes in a film, because you have more time, you might only shoot three to five pages the entire day. Whereas my experience in TV is you shoot five to eight scenes in a day, like 20-plus pages, so there's just no time in-between. You just have to go, go, go. On this film, I had plenty of time so I would shoot a handful of setups and then go fuck off in my trailer for an hour or two hours, or whatever. Or if they decided that something wasn't working with the camera move, I might not work the rest of the day. There's so much time to get it right because there's less pages to shoot over a longer period of time. What I do is not different at all. The amount of time it takes me to do it is up to whoever is writing the check.
L’O: When you're prepping for a character, do you have a specific acting process? Do you do a lot of research, anything like that?
M: We get this question so often, actors, and I guess some people are cool with it, but I feel my "process" is always the same. Obviously, depending on the role, it's going to require different kinds of preparation. But in my opinion, for me, my process, whatever that means, is super-duper personal. It's an intimate thing that I do with just me. Also, I feel like answering that question for other people won't make any sense to them. My process is my process and I'm glad that it's mine.
L’O: So you have your connection to your characters, just between you two. You've worked with so many great actors and directors already early in your career. Is there anyone that you'd like to work with that you haven't?
M: There's so many people that I'd like to work with, for sure. I feel like I can't even answer that question with intelligence. There are so many wonderful creators in this business, and I'm looking forward to working with so many of them. And there's also so many people that I don't even know that I want to work with. I'm nervous, you know what I mean? I don't want to limit myself in that way. But yes, of course, obviously I'd love to work with Viola Davis or fucking Leonardo DiCaprio. Who wouldn't want to do that?
My process is my process, and I'm glad that it’s mine.
L’O: Do you want to return to theater?
M: I would love to. My childhood and my adult dream is to make my Broadway debut. That's my first love, and I haven't given up on it. I'm just waiting.. But when the opportunity presents itself and it's the right project at the right time, I can't wait to do it. I am a musical theater junkie, so whatever it is, I hope I get to sing in it.
L’O: What are some of your favorite musicals?
M: Oh my God, I like a lot of the classics. One job that I was actually pissed that I didn't get is Into the Woods. They did a revival thing for a little while. I would've loved to have done that. I love shit like that. I love Into the Woods, and I really love Spelling Bee. I love Rent. If I could play Mimi in Rent, I would die.
L’O: You've become a part of the fashion world over the years. Has that always been an interest of yours?
M: I've always loved, loved, loved fashion. e [My mom and I] will go thrifting together for hours, and the joy and the thrill of sifting through a bunch of bullshit and finding us some vintage Prada, it tickles my fancy. I saw a Miu Miu show, and saying that I got to witness a Miuccia Prada show is top of my bucket list. I shook her hand.
L’O: How would you describe your personal style?
M: That's a good question. I feel like it changes depending on my mood. It's gone through so many evolutions over time. Maybe I would say it's flexible? It's flexible with a leaning towards comfort.
L’O: How do you unwind after a long day on set, or just a long day?
M: My unwind, long day, short day, or otherwise, is always my full skincare routine. I just can't not do that. I can't not. I have spent too many years, too much money, and too much emotional life force being upset over having acne.
L’O: If I don't double-cleanse, God help me for a month. What's one of your favorite places in New York?
M: Oh, one of my favorite places, there's a really great tapas place in Brooklyn called La Vara. It's so good. They're so nice. It's not pretentious at all. The food is fucking awesome, constantly.
