The creators of “Industry” took to the stage at SXSW London on Thursday and, in a wide-ranging conversation about the origins and development of HBO’s hit financial drama series, discussed finding their young cast, many of whom have been catapulted to global fame thanks to the show.
“We really caught lightning in a bottle with this young cast,” noted Konrad Kay, speaking alongside his collaborator (and friend since college) Mickey Down.
Casting relatively newcomers in the likes of Marisa Abela (a recent BAFTA TV winner for her portrayal of Yasmin), Myha’la Herrold as Harper and Harry Lawtey as Robert, he said may have been “part of the price point,” but added they also wanted actors who “actually looked young, were the right age, and were people youd never seen before, because it just added a sense of realism.”
But he noted that, despite their relative inexperience, the actors helped broaden their characters far beyond what was first written on the page.
He cited Lawtey as an example, saying that Robert was originally written as a “king of Jack the Lad,” who “has issues with his home life and has class anxiety, but honestly, he’s there for a good time.”
As Down succinctly described him, Robert was originally a “two-dimensional fuckboy.”
“And then Harry came in and he played it like that, and we were like, it’s not right, it’s quite one note,” said Kay. “So we said to him, ‘Drop the persona.’ And he was himself, he was great, he was vulnerable. So we said, ‘Just go out of the room, drop everything you’ve learned before you came into this audition, come back in.’ He came back in and did the same audition again and he was loose and was just so good. Harry has such a vulnerability as a performer. And we just started writing into that. And then Robert, God love him, became sort of the emotional heartbeat of the show.”
In a similar sense, Kay said they started writing towards “Marisa’s ability to do humor.”
Abela and Herrold he described as “twin powerhouses,” but actors they’ve continuously seen improve their characters with each season. “We were watching the dailies for the fourth season, and somehow they’re both mature and are giving us more choices in the edit. I marvel at their level of talent,” he said.
