Industry’s Marisa Abela on Yasmin’s Wild Year
When Marisa Abela returned to film Industry for the show’s third season, she was in a very new place. Her name registered differently since she’d starred in the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black and her character in the HBO series, Yasmin Kara-Hanani, would be carrying the narrative of the show in an all-new way. In this season, Yasmin deals with severely traumatic family pain, both in the present and the past, and the part came right on the heels of the sorrow of playing Winehouse. “Had that been any other job, I don’t think I would’ve been able to do it. Industry is home to me as an actor, and I feel so incredibly safe there,” she says.
Abela, who is 27, says she was cast on Industry as a complete newcomer—a blessing that has completely shaped the trajectory of her career, putting her on a path that has her working with Greta Gerwig and Steven Soderbergh. “HBO and BBC2 really took a chance on new talent with Industry, that I think we see less and less in our world now because it’s so important to get bums on seats and to get the right level of viewership and stuff. Industry is a great example of the fact that if you buy-in to talent, then the viewership will come, even if it takes a second,” she says.
In its third season, Industry has become a cultural touchstone and the subject of endless discussion, with Yasmin at the center. Abela spoke with ELLE.com about dealing with the paparazzi as Amy Winehouse, Yasmin, and now herself, what the show has taught her about money, and understanding the darkness in Yasmin’s past.
What did you think when you found out that you’d have such a major role this season?
To be honest, I don’t think it was ever really put to me like that. I was just excited to continue to do the work that I’ve always loved to do in this show. Yasmin’s arc has always been really interesting, for a bunch of different reasons, whether it’s her trying to find out who she is in season 1, [or seeing] how she relates to other people in season 2, and now something more catastrophic in season 3. It feels like her point of focus has expanded each season, which always feels rich. In terms of the story as a whole, it’s always felt to me like such an incredibly ensemble show, and it’s part of the reason that I love it. I sort of only started to realize towards the end of the season that really a lot of the plot points hinged on Yasmin, and that was a new space for me to be in.
Did you talk to [showrunners] Mickey and Konrad about the intensity of the storylines this year?
I always like to know exactly what’s going on. For me, “what does Yasmin know at each point?” is most important thing. For the first time with season 3, there are flashbacks and the audience is left wondering what’s happening. It was important for me to speak to Mickey and Konrad about not only how much Yasmin knows, how much she’s aware of, but what it is that she wants other people to know at what given time, who else in the room is aware of her situation? Those were the things that I felt were the most important, okay, if we find out something in the episode, is it only these three people that know the truth? Those are sort of the most important conversations, I think.
How did this season change your understanding of Yasmin and who she is?
I think that Yasmin in season 3 is really in fight or flight [mode] 90 percent of the time. When someone’s in this state of such intense vulnerability, they’re just like an open wound and their triggers are so sensitive. I felt more protective over Yasmin than I have in any other season because I, as an actor, love her for all of her [qualities] because they’re so rich and interesting to play. This season, Yasmin felt that she was in danger to me.
It was the first time that I really, as an actor, was aware of her genuine struggles. Yasmin is an incredibly privileged girl and she always has been shown that way. Although, some things might feel like life and death to her, and I had to play those stakes as an actor in season 1 and 2, this is the first time she’s actually experiencing what it’s like to lose everything, and there is the capacity for real danger. It’s a different relationship to the world that she’s having.
How long after Amy did Industry start filming? Did you have to recalibrate?
I had one week. The truth is that when I read the beginning of season 3, it was weird because Yasmin’s dealing with paparazzi. She’s dealing with a sort of exposure that a normal person doesn’t usually have to deal with, which was interesting because I never thought I would be combating those kinds of issues on Industry. I’d just been doing it with the Amy film. That was kind of jarring, but the truth is that it’s incredibly jarring for Yasmin. She never expected to be in this position. She never put herself out there to be a public-facing person. I had to remind myself how abnormal that experience is because not only had I just been playing Amy Winehouse, who experienced more press media attention than most celebrities, but I myself was experiencing paparazzi culture for [myself] for the first time ever.
The most important thing for me to remind myself of as an actor in those scenes, especially in episode 1, was just how abnormal this was for someone like Yasmin. It should feel entirely different than any scene with paparazzi with a person like Amy.
Do you feel really comfortable with the cast members?
There’s such a comfortability with Myha’la, with Harry [Lawtey, who plays Robert], with Mickey and Konrad, with Ken. It is an incredibly generous, incredibly kind set. It’s a very familial space. There’s a lot of trust there. It’s an incredibly intimate relationship, especially between Myha’la, Harry, and myself, because we have this shared experience of coming from having no [professional acting] experience. I feel super safe and happy when I am with them.
It’s probably not that common for a young actress to get a part playing someone in finance or a really career-driven part. It’s nice not to only be the ingenue.
Totally. I also think that often times when young people in general, but especially young women, are playing things that are career-driven, it’s usually about the pursuit of fame or something artistic. To do something that is about someone incredibly ambitious, but not in an ego-driven sense, more in a lifestyle sense, is quite interesting, because I think it’s more common. I think most people, if you ask them, “What’s your goal in life?” It’s to live happily and comfortably, not to be a superstar. That’s what you see in Industry. You see people that for whatever reason, have come to this path in life because it feels like it’s the fastest route to living comfortably with stability. Money provides people a level of stability that they otherwise wouldn’t have, whether that comes from someone who had it for a long time, so they never wanted to be without it like Yasmin, or people like Robert and Harper who did not grow up with it. That feeling of safety and stability is aspirational to them.
I’ve been listening to Mickey and Konrad talk about the show over the last couple of days. It’s interesting to hear them say that they had been seeing a lot of TV shows out there that were about Millennial and Gen Z generations and they saw a lot of apathy and malaise on screen. Their experience of our generation was different. They saw people as ambitious and unafraid to say out loud, “I want to be successful.” That’s what they decided to put on screen, and I think it’s made sense to people.
In season 3, I think people are struck by the performances, but there’s also something about the ambiguity where you want to ask people, “How did you interpret that?” I think it has really made for serious conversations, which is nice.
I agree with that, actually. I also think that seasons 1 and 2 were so relationship-based and character-driven, and it wouldn’t be Industry if they weren’t. They are still, but the plot this season is there’s an arc that carries everyone through in a really specific way. I think that will lead to conversations more of, A, what did you think that meant? and B, how do you feel about that?
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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