[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Episode 3 of Season 4 of Industry.]

Summary

In Season 4 of the HBO series ‘Industry,’ Tender executive assistant Hayley Cale is calculated and quietly in control, weaponizing events to gain agency.

The club three-way is a layered catalyst exposing shifting power dynamics; physical beats were carefully choreographed.

I read early scripts, collaborated with creators, and loved filming the intoxicating, fun club scenes.

In Season 4 of the HBO series Industry, Harper (Myha’la) and Yasmin (Marisa Abela) are at the top of their game when it comes to knowing the ins and outs of finance, but their competitive nature also quickly puts them at odds with each other. Harper wants to turn things around by striking out on her own while Yasmin tries to carve out a place for herself alongside her tech founder husband, Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harington), at Tender. But the business dealings of the new fintech company’s enigmatic co-founder, Whitney Halberstram (Max Minghella), raise questions for Harper and her team. During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Kiernan Shipka, who plays Tender executive assistant Hayley Clay, a young woman who’s clearly ambitious but whose true motivations are less clear, discussed how much she knew about her character and just how calculated she might be, how much she enjoyed unraveling the layers, the fun of shooting an Industry club scene, blurring the lines between business and pleasure with Yasmin and Henry in episode three, how that three-way is a catalyst, that she wasn’t actually nervous about shooting that scene, and just how much fun she had getting to be a part of Season 4.
Kiernan Shipka Wanted To Know As Much as Possible About Her ‘Industry’ Season 4 Character

“They were very generous with what they told me.”

Kiernan Shipka as Hayley Clay standing outside and looking serious in Industry Season 4Image via HBO

Collider: At the start of this, how much were you told about what your role would be this season? Did you know everything about Hayley from the beginning? Did they not tell you everything? KIERNAN SHIPKA: They were very generous with what they told me because I wanted to know, but also because it was important for me to know. The character is quite calculated and builds to these different moments throughout the season, and I just wanted to know where I was going. I didn’t want to feel like I was lost in this material, and I didn’t know what she wanted. Even if I’m not remotely giving it away, for me personally, as an actor, I like to know as much as possible about the character, what they’re thinking, what they’re doing, and all that. So, I read the first four scripts before coming onto it, and then I met with (creators) Mickey [Down] and Konrad [Kay] a lot and would always be posing some kind of question, and they were very kind and would always answer my call.

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What most interested you in her, as a character? Were there aspects of her that you were most interested in or excited about exploring? SHIPKA: Yeah, I think she has way more agency than meets the eye. I would almost venture to say she has full agency, which is interesting because she’s definitely not in a position of power. When you look at Hayley and you look at where she is, you don’t go, “That’s a girl with all the power,” and yet she finds a way to have it. She finds a way to make pretty much everything that happens to her in the season somehow play to her advantage, even stuff that on paper wouldn’t. In the first episode, there’s basically an intruder in her house and this crazy thing happens to her, and we see how she even weaponizes that. It’s a very fun part to play. She’s always playing a game and she’s always playing someone. I feel like I’m playing someone who’s playing someone. It’s nice when the guard comes down occasionally, but I think her preset is to be on and I love that about her. I like layers. I like when there’s more than meets the eye. I like when I’m thinking something and knowing something that the audience doesn’t, and then that pays off. That’s the most fun stuff to dive into for me.
‘Industry’ Takes Their Club Scenes Very Seriously and Even Had a Real DJ

“It was really fun.”

Kiernan Shipka as Hayley Clay standing outside in a coat on her phone in Industry Season 4Image via HBO

I also love a good character introduction, and this season really kicks off with us being thrown into things with you and Charlie Heaton. What was it like to play all of that with him, especially with her drawing him in on the dance floor? Is it fun to do all that dancing alone in a packed room and then also with him, or is it just weird to shoot because you don’t usually even get to have the music playing? SHIPKA: We actually had music, which was amazing. It was actually Mickey and Konrad’s friends who were playing the deejays in the booth. Industry takes their club scenes very seriously. It was really fun. I didn’t know Charlie. I hadn’t worked with him before, but we became very fast friends and I couldn’t think of a better person to do that stuff with. It was so fun. I’d never really done a dancing drunk club scene before. It was just a really fun way to be in that moment, letting go of inhibitions. She just wants to let go and be free for a minute, and it’s a really amazing way to get out of your head and into your body. For that reason, it was super fun. And what an honor to open the show. Something about that is unforgettable. When I look back on my life and career, that’s a total highlight.

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I love being thrown into something right away with a character that we don’t know yet and just trying to figure out what’s happening and who they are. There’s something so fun about that. SHIPKA: I agree. I feel like it’s equal parts the most Industry opening ever, where all the things that we love about the show going down, but also at the same time, this is the core of these people. It’s a way of saying, “Hey, this is still Industry, but it’s new and this is a reset.”
The Three-Way in Episode 3 of Season 4 of ‘Industry’ Is Full of Layers and Subtext

​​​​​​​”There’s so much that each of those characters are going through in that scene.”

In episode three, it’s a bit of an interesting circumstance that your character finds herself in with Yas and Henry because it’s not often that you find yourself in a scenario where the wife is seducing you for her husband and then also staying in the room and watching all of it happen. What was that dynamic like to figure out, especially with Yasmin essentially in charge of the two of you being together? SHIPKA: It was very interesting because, in that moment, Yasmin is fighting for power and doing so probably the most explicitly in that scene out of the three of them. We come to realize that Hayley has the power the entire time, which is a wild realization. I just think that scene has so many different layers and there’s so much subtext. There’s so much that each of those characters are going through in that scene. It means something so different to each of them. I actually feel like that scene is a catalyst, but it’s three different catalysts. To dive into that was really fun, and it felt like such an important thing to do and to get right. They were amazing people to do that scene with. We were in great hands. It was fun and I think it turned out great. It’s a really important scene for all of them. Was there anything that you were particularly nervous about pulling off in those moments, or did you feel like you always had a voice in the conversations of how that would play out? SHIPKA: It’s funny, I didn’t even really overly think about the parts that I think a lot of people would maybe think I would think about. I really felt like the physical part of the scene was so secondary to the emotional beats. When it came to the physical stuff, it was so detailed and planned out and taken care of in such a safe fashion that I felt like we were able to focus on what really mattered. I wasn’t particularly nervous about it. I was excited about it. I always get a little bit nervous, but in a way that I like to harness and use. But when I think about the scenes that I was thinking about most the night before and wanting to really make sure I got right, that one wasn’t top of mind. We had talked about it, and we knew what we were doing and getting into. You never know what you’re going to get in your own head about. SHIPKA: Right? I never know. Every job, I’m always like, “Why is it this scene, of all the scenes that I’m thinking about the extra amount?”

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Season 4 is just getting started.

This really just seems like the most intimidating show to throw yourself into the deep end of, especially in Season 4, and I love what you were able to pull off in this season and with this character.

SHIPKA: Thank you so much. It was really fun to be a part of. I loved being on it so much. It either seems like it would so fun or so terrifying, or a combination of the two things. SHIPKA: Honestly, I thought it was going to be more terrifying than it actually was because everyone’s so nice and I ended up having so much fun.

Release Date

November 9, 2020

Network

HBO

Directors

Isabella Eklöf, Tinge Krishnan, Ed Lilly, Birgitte Stærmose, Zoé Wittock, Caleb Femi, Mary Nighy, Konrad Kay, Lena Dunham, Mickey Down

Marisa Abela

Yasmin Kara-Hanani

Harry Lawtey

Robert Spearing

Industry airs on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Max. Check out the Season 4 trailer: