'It Was Bizarre' – Myha’la and Ken Leung Break Down Harper and Eric’s 2 Seconds of Happiness Before Everything Falls Apart in Industry Episode 6

Full spoilers beneath for HBO's Industry, Episode 6.

If past week’s Industry episode, “Eyes Without a Face,” threw the pebble from wrong the solid house, Episode 6, “Dear Henry,” shows the fast-spreading spider cracks earlier the walls full-on shatter and collapse. Last week, Sweetpea (Miriam Petche) and Kwabena (Toheeb Jimoh)’s thrilling investigative romp successful Accra confirmed that Tender was thing but a shell, a forgery puppeted by Whitney Halberstam (Max Minghella). This week, we got a existent look astatine the grade of Whitney’s con that’s been bubbling conscionable nether the aboveground each play long, however overmuch Henry and Yasmin person to lose, and the piles of wealth Harper and Eric person to summation from their risky stake successful shorting Tender.

“You conscionable gave maine my favourite time successful finance,” Eric tells Harper the time aft she laid retired her team’s findings astir Tender astatine a women successful concern conference. The markets had opened, Tender’s banal had tanked. Later, Eric twists the weapon successful Tender successful a CNN co-interview with Whitney, demanding different audit of the company. The SternTao consortium won, and the squad gets to instrumentality a uncommon triumph thigh afloat of pridefulness for their enactment successful their $100k-a-month hotel-office. (According to Myha’la and Ken Leung, it was built connected a soundstage successful Wales but modeled aft an existent hotel. In the show, you’ll spot marque markers for the Hyde Park Hotel – the closest I could find aft a bully spot of Googling were rooms that looked mighty akin with the terms tag to lucifer astatine the Mandarin Oriental successful Hyde Park.)

Of course, it was each excessively bully to beryllium true: Eric receives a blackmail substance with video of him with a pistillate from earlier successful the play and a photograph of her passport; she’s underage. He’s cooked. He backs retired of the institution done a lawyer connected highly charitable presumption – different uncommon effort astatine generosity to Harper – but doesn’t divulge thing beyond “reputational risks.” This country betwixt the 2 of them cuts deeper than their past blowouts of who could hurl the cruelest jabs; it’s truthful overmuch much devastating for Harper to beryllium betrayed aft they had built up communal goodwill, pride, and respect for each other. Though Industry has yet to beryllium renewed for a 5th season, it’s hard not to wonderment if this is truly the extremity for Eric arsenic helium walks disconnected successful the credits to the Judy Collins mentation of “Both Sides Now.”

IGN spoke with Myh’ala and Leung astir Harper and Eric’s rhythm of falling-outs that led to this one, allowing their characters a infinitesimal of morganatic happiness, and Whitney’s slimy caller marque of evil, which is new, adjacent for Industry.

The Harper-Eric Connection

IGN: What drives the magnet that keeps pulling Harper and Eric together? And however does moving retired of Pierpoint this play marque that much apparent?

Ken Leung: I deliberation they admit themselves successful each other. Maybe successful the beginning, helium saw a younger mentation of what helium had to... The benignant of resilience and chutzpah that she showed successful that archetypal interrogation – helium saw thing of himself. And I deliberation helium turns to her this play to reply questions [about himself]. It's travel to the constituent where, "Well, if you lucifer me, past if I person a question that I can't reply for myself, possibly you can." So she becomes a capsule of that benignant of reflector for him.

Myha'la: I deliberation Eric's ever been an idol of Harper's. She comes successful seeing a mentation of herself successful him like, "This is what I could be." And helium feels similar the lone idiosyncratic who has the benignant of volatile, dirty, scrappy vigor towards finance, idiosyncratic who volition conscionable enactment her, adjacent if he's not that mode anymore. She's like, "You get me. I cognize you'll enactment me." And erstwhile they don't person the bank's structure, past they tin play retired this pseudo-parental thingy without immoderate prying eyes oregon [it being] an HR issue. But also, I deliberation Harper is like, "Oh, it's not similar that. Let's not spell determination explicitly due to the fact that we cognize it's happening, but let's conscionable not accidental it due to the fact that the 2nd we accidental [it], it's going to ruin everything and we're not going to beryllium capable to enactment together." And she's right. She turns retired to beryllium wholly right.

Two Seconds of Happiness – “It Was Bizarre and Foreign”

IGN: Your characters person these precise nationalist victories – Harper successful the women's forum and past Eric connected CNN – successful this episode. I'm funny astir your absorption to them getting to acquisition genuine happiness earlier it each conscionable comes crashing down.

Ken Leung: It's precise freeing. I mean, it's almost, like, for 2 seconds you're allowed to dance. And truthful it's fun.

Myha'la: It is fun. It was besides comic to beryllium like, "What does Harper look similar erstwhile she's laughing and smiling?" Oh, we're truthful excited astir this. What does it look similar erstwhile I'm not panicking? I'm conscionable blessed astir thing oregon excited astir the aboriginal of something. Still locked successful and I'm grown. But besides what does occurrence consciousness similar successful a relaxed way? Which was weird, actually, to consciousness successful her body. It was bizarre and foreign, which I deliberation it's good for her to beryllium uncomfortable erstwhile she's genuinely doing well. She's not utilized to it. [It was] teeing america up for the worst, arsenic always.

Whitney Halberstrom, a New Type of Industry Villain

IGN: Both Harper and Eric get to look disconnected with Max Minghella’s Whitney successful this episode. What was it similar playing disconnected of him successful these scenes and conscionable having him arsenic a caller benignant of evil successful the amusement this season?

Myha'la: He was slimy. I consciousness similar astir of the villains [in] Industry, you tin spot them. They're not hiding really. Like Roger [Barclay]'s quality [Otto Mostyn] who's like, "I said the r-word and I mightiness conscionable accidental it again!" It's evident that he's not a bully dude. But Whitney, it feels weird, strange... The menace of unit oregon panic feels imminent, but he's doing it truthful softly and successful riddles, which is conscionable creepy, bro.

Ken Leung: There's an effortlessness to it, too.

Myha'la: Yeah, you don't truly person to bash overmuch due to the fact that it's conscionable truthful arresting.

IGN: Whitney singing to Harper implicit the telephone gave maine goosebumps, like, "This is atrocious to watch. I hatred this."

Myha'la: You should person been determination due to the fact that our AD was the 1 singing for maine and he's super-duper Welsh and helium loves to sing. So it was really benignant of beauteous erstwhile helium was doing it, not astir arsenic creepy arsenic erstwhile I heard Max doing it, but I had to unreal similar it was creepy. But inside, I was like, "Oh my God, you person specified a large voice."

The Anatomy of a Harper/Eric Blowout

IGN: Throughout the show, your characters person had these precise aggravated fights implicit and implicit again. When you’re shooting these scenes, are you doing tons of takes, trying to find the close level of viciousness? Or bash you consciousness similar you person it each locked successful by present of however they should beryllium approaching each different successful immoderate of those moments?

Myha'la: The quality of the mode we some similar to enactment is that nary 2 takes are ever truly the same, and determination are varying degrees of ferocity. But there's a mentation of that country [in this episode] that I deliberation happened archetypal wherever we hole ourselves of however we're going to participate the country and past immoderate happens takes precedence. And I saw him and the mode helium was, and it was excessively overmuch for maine to not effort to comfortableness him. So there's a mentation of that country successful the tin determination wherever Ken reminded maine I'm being soothing and I'm being cautious and I'm being sensitive. And then, of course, there's a mentation of it wherever nevertheless he's being is making maine aggravated due to the fact that of my ain wounded feelings. And truthful past I'm the mode that you extremity up seeing successful the show. But astir each clip we've done a country similar that, it's been this way.

The archetypal clip ever, the archetypal country that we did unneurotic erstwhile helium shuts the doorway and he's yelling astatine maine successful Season 1, I was like, "Oh, I'm having a hard time. I consciousness similar determination needs to beryllium tears here," but I don't cognize that I would commencement crying erstwhile idiosyncratic was yelling astatine maine similar that astatine work. I would conscionable frost up. And Ken was like, "Cool, well, I tin bash thing else." And I said, "Well, wherefore don't you conscionable accidental the words? You don't person to rise your dependable oregon anything. I consciousness similar I would beryllium much affected if you conscionable spoke them to me."

And helium did and I was. So successful the existent doing of the thing, the exploring is not needfully to find what's the champion way, what is the actual way, due to the fact that determination are truthful galore ways that that country could spell depending connected however we participate it. Whatever you spot successful the last edit is immoderate mentation of Harper and Eric that [show creators] Mickey [Down] and Konrad [Kay] request for their storytelling. But due to the fact that of the quality of our narration and due to the fact that of however the amusement works, we bash a batch of exploring successful the happening and each instrumentality is simply a possibility.

We were processing this connection betwixt america for six years.“

Ken Leung: I person to accidental that infinitesimal successful the archetypal season, I consciousness similar you, Myha'la, talented some of america a mode to enactment by voicing what you conscionable said. She had the honesty and benignant of self-possession to say, "This doesn't enactment for me." Not everybody would person the benignant of wherewithal to bash that. You person to person a consciousness of however you work, what you need, what works for you, what doesn't enactment for you. And besides you're telling the different actor, "I spot you." And truthful I deliberation that unlocked thing that gave america a mode of moving that served america for each the years after.

Myha'la: I deliberation that was astir the clip besides wherever I was like, "How bash you cry?" And you were like, "I deliberation of thing happy." And I was like, "Oh, my God. Damn." So past due to the fact that it's not method-y wherever I'm like, "Oh, I deliberation of immoderate bittersweet whatever." It's just, similar you said, knowing how americium I affected? I cognize if idiosyncratic yells astatine me, I'm conscionable like, "Fuck you." I don't wage attraction due to the fact that that's conscionable not however I work.

Ken Leung: Sometimes you person to deliberation of thing sad. Sometimes thing bittersweet works. Just don't hide astir the happy.

Myha'la: Because what if the bittersweet happening doesn't enactment that day? And that time you yelled and it didn't enactment for me. And due to the fact that sometimes it conscionable doesn't enactment and that's okay, but you inactive person to get the shot. So you person to person immoderate different ways to get there.

Ken Leung: Right. Because it's each successful there. It's astir however bash you coax it? How bash you coax it now? How bash you invitation it into the country now?

Myha'la: Because of however agelong and however good we've worked unneurotic for specified a agelong time, we cognize these things astir each different immediately. So we conscionable don't person to enactment arsenic hard arsenic possibly we did before. We were processing this connection betwixt america for, whatever, six years.

“I Will Always Remember You Like This”

IGN: Do you retrieve what you were feeling during that line?

Myha'la: I deliberation the instrumentality that they ended up using, I was conscionable truthful angry. I was truthful angry, and I wanted him to consciousness arsenic overmuch symptom arsenic imaginable due to the fact that I was successful truthful overmuch pain. So I wanted to beryllium mean and I wanted to beryllium hurtful. And evidently arsenic soon arsenic I turned around, I was conscionable successful pain.

Ken Leung: I don't cognize that I could springiness a sanction to what I was evoking, but it's astir the feeling of this is the mode I cognize however to emotion and the recipient is taking it the incorrect mode oregon is not receiving it that way. So it's that heartbreak of thing breaking. One would deliberation that if I americium loving, it volition beryllium received that way, obviously. So erstwhile it's not, thing breaks successful your ain knowing of things.

This interrogation has been edited and condensed for clarity.