Entertainment
‘Stranger Things’ Star Charlie Heaton Breaks Down His ‘Industry’ Character’s Downward Spiral
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Industry Season 4, Episode 4.]
Summary
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 things are not what they seem when it comes to the fintech company’s enigmatic co-founder, Whitney Halberstram (Max Minghella), which sparks interest in financial journalist James Dycker (Charlie Heaton). Unfortunately, no one is immune to a downward spiral, and his promising exposé of Tender’s business practices gets turned on him, shifting the spotlight to Jim’s bad decisions instead.
During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Heaton discussed how watching Industry is similar to watching Shakespeare, not having much time to jump into Season 4 and find his footing, how welcomed the cast made him feel in joining Season 4, his club scene introduction with Kiernan Shipka (who plays Tender executive assistant Hayley Clay), and how exhausting his characters building spiral was to experience. He also talked about who his Stranger Things character Jonathan Byers might cast in his movie, The Consumer, that funny NYU Alumni Instagram post inviting his character for their Alumni and Families weekend in the fall, and how he’s excited to continue pushing himself in future projects.
Understanding the World of the HBO Series ‘Industry’ Feels a Bit Like Watching Shakespeare
“You understand the stakes and you understand the tension, but you don’t really understand what’s going on.”
Collider: I have to admit that Industry is a show that I totally do not even remotely understand. I don’t understand the finance world at all. But I’m obsessed with the show because of the characters and their relationships.
CHARLIE HEATON: Yeah, that was very much me going into this. I’d heard of the show when I first was in talks for the role. I was talking to a friend of mine about it who’d watched it, and she said the same thing. She was like, “I have no idea what they’re talking about, but you get it.” That’s part of it. It’s almost like watching Shakespeare, in a way, with the language. You understand the stakes and you understand the tension, but you don’t really understand what’s going on, as a viewer.
Because there’s so much heaviness with this show, to get a little silly first, have you seen the NYU Alumni Instagram page that posted about how they’re looking to get in touch with Jonathan Byers from the NYU class of 1991 for the 35th anniversary of his graduation. I just thought that was the funniest.
HEATON: No, I hadn’t seen that. Where do I go? That’s so funny. I’ll check it out.
They invited him to join the NYU Alumni and Families weekend this fall, and I just thought it was so funny. How weird is it to have a character that you’ve played take on a life of its own in that way?
HEATON: Yeah, it is. What a treat. We’ve been saying goodbye to these characters for over a year now. We’ve just come off this huge press tour where everyone was asking what it feels like to say goodbye. When we wrapped, it really did feel like you were saying goodbye to a friend. I kept using that analogy. You’re leaving them, and they’re going on with their own life. It felt like that. So, the fact that that’s how people feel about all these characters, that they’re real people who really exist in the world, that’s a testament to the show, to the writing, and we played these characters for so long and people have resonated with them for so long that they feel like real, full-fledged people. It’s amazing, really.
Who Would Jonathan Byers Cast in His ‘Stranger Things’ Movie, ‘The Consumer’?
“That’s a funny question.”
If Jonathan Byers’ movie, The Consumer, were a real movie, who do you think he would cast in it? If it had become more than a student film and he got to make it for the big screen, who would he want to see play the woman in it?
HEATON: Wow. I feel like, at the time, you’ve got to look at ‘80s [actors]. I feel like, at that time, Jonathan would have been a fan of Sigourney Weaver. It would be pretty meta to have Winona Ryder be in his movie. That’s a funny question. I know that Phoebe Cates has been mentioned. I feel like Dustin really likes Phoebe Cates. That’s funny.
The first person I thought of was Winona Ryder, and I was like, “How would that work?”
HEATON: Yeah!
When you come off a project that is big and successful and has the attention that Stranger Things has, it can be a bit scary to figure out what to do next and how to follow that up. Industry certainly is one way to do that. It’s considered to be one of the best shows on TV, and it seems like a show that is also both fun and terrifying to do. Was it both of those things?
HEATON: Yeah, it was. It’s such a specific world. I had come from being in such a specific world for 10 years. You’re joining an established show. I’ve been on a show and I’ve seen what it’s like for other people to come onto an established show. It was really terrifying. There wasn’t a lot of time either. It wasn’t like I had a lot of time to prep for it. It literally happened all in the space of a week, I think. That manic-ness and that pressure of being like, “Wow, I’ve got to learn this really quickly,” I do think helped with the intensity of it, just because it is such an intense, wild show. The challenge of it made it the perfect thing for me to go and see how I would do with that.
I was looking for something that was going to really challenge me, and this is so different to anything I’m used to. It’s a different style of work, different tone of work, different tone of material. Konrad [Kay] and Mickey [Down], the showrunners and writers, were so great and they were really encouraging, and they were really excited to see me do something different, so I had their support. They were really helpful. They helped me understand the world. They were bank traders. The story comes from their experience. They’re an encyclopedia of knowledge.
How you find a way into a character is always the job. I’ve done other films before, but being on the show, I discovered Jonathan a long time ago. I had to find my way into this new character of Jim, not knowing exactly how I was going to find my way into it. I don’t really feel like a financial journalist at all. I don’t know what that feels like. But you always somehow seem to find your own way in, and that was really encouraging. It gave me a lot of confidence, which was really nice to experience.
‘Industry’ Season 4 Review: HBO’s Most Underrated Thriller Series Returns With a Dark New Chapter
‘Industry’ may share similarities with other HBO dramas, but it’s evolved into a definitive show of the moment.
You had the double whammy of having to try to understand the financial world, and then also figuring out what it’s like to be a financial journalist who’s reporting on it.
HEATON: It was funny because, at the time we were shooting, it was March or April of last year and there was that brief moment when the American stock market crashed for a couple days or a week and everyone was freaking out. I was reading these long-form articles about what was going on, and because of the show, I would not be able to understand it now, but I was like, “Oh, yeah, I know what they’re talking about. I kind of get it.” For three months, I was like, “Yeah, I know finance.” And then, it was completely gone.
The Club Scene in the First Episode of Season 4 of ‘Industry’ Had a Real DJ To Help Set the Vibe
“They create environments that really help the actors feel that it’s as tangible as possible.”
I love a good character introduction, and this season kicks off with us being thrown into things with you and Kiernan Shipka. What was it like to play all of that with her, starting with her really drawing you in and seducing you on the dance floor?
HEATON: My first day on set was that club scene. They brought in this DJ from Brazil that they really like, and it was really fun. Kiernan is wonderful. She’s been doing this for such a long time, she does it with such grace and ease. When you’ve got to do something like that, it could easily be very awkward, but it was really comfortable. DJ Tennis was the name of the DJ that they brought in. That was fun. The rehearsal wasn’t fun because they didn’t bring any of the background artists in. It was just me and Kiernan grinding on each other, and everyone around watching it was like, “Yeah, that’s okay. That’ll work.” It’s never that comfortable. But we had a lot of fun.
What Industry does really well is keep things as raw as possible. There’s one little frame in the very opening, when you open in Canary Wharf, and it’s these super long lens cameras that are capturing me and Kiernan before we get to the club. Even that was filmed guerrilla style in Canary Wharf. You had real people commuting and the camera was miles away, so you feel like you’re just in the city. They set those environments. When Jim is at those offices, they have the extras moving around. They create environments that really help the actors feel that it’s as tangible as possible.
“I think she has way more agency than meets the eye. I would almost venture to say she has full agency,” says Shipka of her ‘Industry’ character.
What do you think James Dycker thought of Hayley Clay when all of that was happening, especially as things just continue to spiral and he has no idea what’s going to happen to him beyond that moment?
HEATON: To understand the character, you’ve got to understand their moral ethics. In the beginning, I really don’t think he feels like he’s trying to get dragged into that situation. I personally don’t think it’s as dark as that. But then, as the night continues, the ethics get a bit more skewed. In the beginning, I think he just wants to have a conversation because he goes to the pub and I think he was maybe thinking about catching her at the pub, but the moment didn’t feel right. And then, the club happens and she offers him the drugs and he pockets the drugs, and then he ends up back in her house. So, I feel like he’s going down this path, even in that first five minutes, of knowing in his heart that he shouldn’t be there. That’s not the space he should be in. In the morning, he stays to try to get information, which is a bit skewed, but I do think there’s that slight bit of morality and guilt there.
That whole moment when he’s still there the next day and he tells her that he’s a reporter working on a story about her workplace seemed a bit ill-advised. What reaction do you think he thought he was going to get from that?
HEATON: I don’t know. I don’t know why he thought he’d get a sensible [reaction]. That’s crazy. It was super fun. Kiernan is also so good in that scene, when she picks up the knife and she chases him out. It was just really fun to play around in that.
It was funny to see the moments James Dycker would randomly be honest about something because you’re not sure if he’s doing it on purpose or if it’s something that just slips out. You also never know when Hayley Clay is being honest or if she’s manipulating everything.
HEATON: Totally, and I think that’s what they do really well with the show. You are constantly trying to understand. Everyone seems like they have two or three motives. That whole show is like a chessboard, and everyone is a piece on the board trying to outsmart and outmaneuver each other. They’re really clever.
Your character also crosses paths with Harper, who’s a character that I find completely frightening in her focus and determination with everything. What’s it like to share moments with Myha’la?
HEATON: A lot of those scenes are over the phone, but there was a scene in episode one that was a really long walk-and-talk scene that didn’t make it into the cut because of timing. I did get to have that scene with her and she’s just so cool. Obviously, her character is badass, but as a person, she’s lovely. She’s really down to earth and grounded. I think she’s somewhat of a homebody. It was really cool. When I got the show, I hadn’t seen it, so I wanted to digest it really quick. I started to watch the first two seasons, and then I made a conscious decision to stop watching because I didn’t want to be too enamored by these people when I got to set. You start to become a fan and then you’re like, “Well, I’ve got to go and work with these people, and I don’t want to fan out,” if that makes sense. But they’re lovely. Coming in and stepping into a cast who are established, I felt very welcomed, which was nice.
James Dycker Is a Ticking Time Bomb Waiting To Go Off in Season 4 of ‘Industry’
“He’s almost holding it together.”
Your character really spirals. He’s trying to expose this company, but they also essentially expose him. What was it like to find the levels of that, as he’s spiraling and becoming more of a mess? Did you have a very clear idea of how you wanted him to be when he was just totally fucked up?
HEATON: Yeah, it’s that build. I talked about this with both Konrad and Mickey. I do think that he is constantly carrying that energy. This is a guy who runs on prescription pills, cigarettes, and coffee. He likes to work on that wire. He’s also trying to claw back some credibility. When we find him at the beginning, it’s about what the text gives you. He’s got this shitty place in and he’s newly single and his career has been tarnished by bad journalism. He’s on the wire from the beginning, so it’s about, how does that spiral? He’s almost holding it together. He’s that type of person who feels like, “Okay, once I get here, once I prove this, then my life will be better and everything’s going to be better.” But he’s a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.
It’s sad because he’s intrepid and he’s really smart, but he just makes these wrong choices. It’s interesting to play. That was fun. It was difficult. Michelle [Savill] was our director for that block, and she was really good. She has a theater background and likes to do a lot of exercises. She did physical techniques with us that would help get your body into that state, which was really good. And then, you just run with that energy. Those last couple of weeks on set were exhausting.
You said that you’re looking for something different. You jumped into this, which clearly is very different from Stranger Things, but then where do you go from here? Do you know what you’re going to be shooting next?
HEATON: I did a couple of other projects. Last year was a really fortunate and busy year for me. There’s another Netflix limited series that’s coming out, that I can’t really talk about. And I got to do a film at the end of the year in Australia, which was a nice independent film where I’m playing an Australian and I’m also playing someone my own age again. I’m just trying on different hats and I’m trying to challenge myself. Next, I don’t know. We’ll see. It’s a new chapter. It’s exciting. I’m excited to push myself and play around a bit.
- Release Date
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November 9, 2020
- Network
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HBO
- Directors
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Isabella Eklöf, Tinge Krishnan, Ed Lilly, Birgitte Stærmose, Zoé Wittock, Caleb Femi, Mary Nighy, Konrad Kay, Lena Dunham, Mickey Down
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Marisa Abela
Yasmin Kara-Hanani
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Harry Lawtey
Robert Spearing
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Industry airs on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Max. Check out the Season 4 trailer: