Spoiler Alert: This story contains plot details from HBO’s “Industry” Season 4, Episode 3, “Habseligkeiten,” now streaming on HBO Max.
If you last saw Kiernan Shipka as young Sally Draper in Mad Men or the cane-wielding young Sabrina Spellman in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, you might blink twice at her latest role as Haley Clay in Industry.
The first scene of the season four opener alone, in which she takes drugs in a nightclub, frolics on the dance floor (along with Jim, played by fellow new character Charlie Heaton), and colorfully explains her vagina to a new acquaintance back at her apartment, is pretty memorable. And this is all before Haley is eventually introduced as an executive assistant at the shady financial startup company Tender.
But it’s in the third episode that Shipka truly breaks away from her place as a child star in television history, when she is playfully encouraged to have sex with troubled aristocrat Henry Mack (Kit Harington)’s evilly manipulative wife Yasmin (Marisa Abella). Haley, perhaps too enthusiastically, urged Yasmin to get in on the action herself, lest she lose in the never-ending game of power plays. Naturally, since this is “Industrial,” a season in which creators Conrad Kaye and Mickey Down all but blew away the show’s financial roots, the trio takes place in a medieval Austrian castle run by a fascist family whose walls are adorned with a painting of “A. Hitler.”
As Shipka points out, “Industry” is not only a show that is “brave, breaking rules, pushing boundaries,” but also one that manages to “get away with” that.
At first, Hayley seems like a doted-on assistant, but she also likes going out, having sex, and taking drugs. But as the show progresses, we see more of her identity. How would you describe her?
When I recorded it for the show, it was mostly the opening sequence and then scenes from later episodes. So I was like, “Who is she? Who is this girl?” It felt like she was playing some kind of game, it felt like she was wild and living her own life, and there was a grittier, rawer quality to her considering how much she exploded within the first five minutes of meeting her. But I didn’t really know what the hell she was.
So what did you find out about her later?
Once I got cast, I had to read the first four scripts and talk about what the rest of her story was going to be with Mickey and Conrad and really plan out this really long game that she was going to play. I think Hayley is an incredibly smart, calculating, and sometimes deceptive character. I think it’s like she’s playing a game of chess and, after living through each moment, she realizes what kind of chess piece each moment is. As the show progresses, she becomes very emotionally connected to all these people. I think her business is about interpersonal relationships, complex dynamics with other people. And it was a lot of fun to play. She really had a “you have nothing to lose” quality to her, which I really liked. When I found her, she was calculated and finely tuned, but I also noticed that she didn’t have the thought, “Am I doing the right thing?” Her progression into the game has been intoxicating.
Kiernan Shipka “Industry”
I have to talk about the threesome scene between Yasmin and Henry in episode 3. There’s a lot of power play going on there. At first it seems like Yasmin is just manipulating Henry and taking advantage of Hayley, but things soon seem to change. How did you see it?
This is a very important scene for the three characters. But what I find so interesting about that scene is that everyone has very different emotional arcs. Even though we are doing something together, everyone is on their own journey. The actual physical nature of the scene was last for me. It was less about what this meant for Hayley and more about why she was doing it and what she was getting herself into. And obviously, for both Marisa and Kit, it was about where their characters are, why they got into that situation, and what it means to them. And it was a really interesting moment to see these three worlds come and collide and feel the different energies. And it’s really fun.
“Industry” has been bold throughout the past three seasons, but I’m sure there are some lines in its scenes that still raise some eyebrows. When you read the script, was there a part where you thought, “Oh, this is what I’m going to do?”
There were many things I read that made me think, “Oh, that’s what I meant!” I’ve never been on a show where I read a scene and thought in real time, “Oh, wait, no, I’m actually doing that.” But at the same time, I feel like we have a very good relationship. That’s why this show pulls off something like this in a very careful, classy, for lack of a better word. But it’s brave, breaking rules and pushing boundaries. I think that’s why everyone is so excited.
I hope it wasn’t the first day of filming…
No, that’s another story! But we had shot a few productions, so by then I knew everyone!
There’s a little bit of editing between the sex scene and the scene where Yasmin eats oysters for breakfast, which is really nice.
that’s right! And it was in the script. So this is proof that Mickey and Conrad knew exactly what kind of show they wanted to make.
Casting director Julie Harkin said she wanted to give you a role that was completely different from anything audiences had seen before. As someone who last saw you on “Mad Men,” this is obviously very different. Have you considered this as well?
Yes, I was really excited. I and I are so grateful to Julie, Mickey, and Conrad for finding me in this role. Because she’s different and more mature. I mean, I’m 26 years old now, but people have known me since I was 6 years old. And I know how much weight that carries. So for them to say, “I think she’s the girl for Hailey,” that’s really exciting to me. That’s the part I love. So I was very conscious that I was doing something more mature. But I didn’t really think, “I have to do something like this next time.” It’s about people and materials. But when it also challenges someone’s perspective on me as a performer, and when it conflicts with what I’ve done before, it’s so exciting and so much fun.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
