‘Industry’ Star Kiernan Shipka Unpacks That Wild Episode 3 Sex Scene and How Haley Could Weaponize It

Note: This story contains spoilers from “Industry” Season 4, Episode 3.

As has come to be commonplace on “Industry,” the HBO financial drama series took a psychosexual turn beyond the bounds of business in Episode 3, as Marisa Abela’s Yasmin seduced Kiernan Shipka’s Haley, by way of Kit Harington’s Henry Muck.

While Yasmin and Haley’s flirtation kickstarted during their brief interaction in the Season 4 premiere (more on that below), the pair took their connection to the next level during the Tender executive suite’s trip to Vienna, when Yasmin propositioned Haley to sleep with Henry, and eventually herself. While the intimate scene is shocking in and of itself — both to the characters involved and the audience — Season 4 recruit Shipka found herself preoccupied first and foremost with the mental games at play.

“The actual physical part of it I thought about dead last — that we were going to figure out with the coordinator, and then on the day — that part of it I wasn’t worried about at all,” Shipka told TheWrap, instead noting her shifted focus towards Haley’s motives. “I want Haley’s intentions, or whatever is concealed to still make sense and be in line with her character.”

Shipka noted that each of the three characters undergo quite different journeys during the scene, with Yasmin exercising her power while Henry goes through “a lot,” as Shipka puts it, as he reckons with the arrangement and why Yasmin orchestrated it. “For all three of us it was, it was mostly about how that made sense with our characters and how that moment changed our characters, and I think it did, but very differently for all of us,” she said.

For Haley, whom Shipka notes utilizes sex, her body and her innocence as her main chess pieces, her desire laid not in the sexual encounter itself, but on participating in a moment “that she could potentially weaponize, and at the same time, [use to] get incredibly close to these people in a way where they couldn’t really lose her.”

“I think about also her going into that moment and thinking, ‘I could use this in a host of ways, depending on how things go next … let’s just see what kind of chess piece this actually becomes,'” Shipka said. “In that moment, I think she thought she couldn’t lose, but didn’t necessarily know exactly how she was going to use that in the future.”

Below, Shipka reveals how her opening scene with Charlie Heaton marks a new era for “Industry” and details the “romantic” connection with Yasmin off the bat.

TheWrap: Haley is a really interesting new addition to “Industry.” What drew you to this role?

Kiernan Shipka: I loved the part from the get go. The first thing that I read is the opening of the show where she had a wildness to her that I really liked and thought would be really fun to dive into, and then the more that I learned about her, the more interesting stuff I found. She’s so mysterious and layered, and I was really excited to play with the game that she’s playing. I really loved the fact that she was so much more than she let on. I really loved her — I loved her personality. I loved how brave and wild and fearless and unapologetic she was, and then her intellect. I really was drawn by sort of the calculated nature of of her.

Every single scene felt like such an important scene to plant all the seeds, because everything builds on each other. It was fun figuring her out, but it was definitely a process of going, “I want to make sure that this makes sense.”

That club scene with Charlie Heaton was a crazy way to start the season. How do you think it sets the scene for everything to come this season and how did you want to introduce Haley?

It’s such an “Industry” way to open the season. It was so fun because I’m a fan of the show and being a fan going in, and one of my first scenes being what felt like such a quintessential “Industry” scene was so fun. At the same time though, it’s two people who we don’t know, so it’s saying that this season is “Industry” — it’s always going to be unapologetically itself this show — but it’s also a new era for it, and it’s also new and it’s also different. It felt like the “Industry” we know and love, and also all these characters who we don’t know coming together said a lot about what Season 4 really, really is, which is new, but the spirit of the show has always been the same.

In Episode 3, Haley confides in Yasmin about her interaction with Jim Dycker (Heaton). Why do you think she confided in Yas about this and what kind of game do you think she’s playing in that moment?

I think that the second Yasmin showed up in Haley’s life, Haley found her in — I think that Haley saw a part of herself in Yasmin, and it was almost a sort of spiritual recognition, I think, because the first scene between the two of them is quite short, but it’s loaded. We see immediately that Haley kind of tests the waters and sees if Yas is down to play ball, and she is, and I think from then on, it was like Haley knew that Yasmin was her person, and that there was a connection there that was beyond words. And also Yasmin being one of the only other women in that space is also why Haley gravitated towards her. It’s fun to see her test the waters in the beginning, and then slowly build that relationship and take a lot of risks within it. It was probably something that happened on a more spiritual level, and then Haley played out in a more tactical way.

They do have this connection in the early scenes. How did you play those flirty scenes with Marisa?

It’s interesting, because I think that some of the stuff that is flirtatious and loaded in that way was scripted, and then some of it wasn’t. I particularly remember a look between the two of us that we have in Episode 3, where I’m telling her about the Dycker stuff, and it’s a pretty sexy look. I don’t think, if my memory serves me right, that was in the script, but it was a suggestion from the director, and I think it worked really well. There’s something quite romantic about their connection. I don’t know how else to describe it, but it’s certainly not something that I think either one expected — it wasn’t necessarily part of Haley’s initial plan, but it’s something that’s not manufactured.

“Industry” Season 4 airs Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.

The post ‘Industry’ Star Kiernan Shipka Unpacks That Wild Episode 3 Sex Scene and How Haley Could Weaponize It appeared first on TheWrap.