Kiernan Shipka, now playing a sophisticated assistant on HBO’s ‘Industry,’ reveals she was just as lost in the show’s finance jargon as viewers are. She explains how the show’s focus on character emotion over technical details makes it a captivating success, and why her character Hayley’s secretive nature makes her one of the most intriguing figures in the series’ chaotic world.
At 26 years old, Kiernan Shipka has solidified her place as a Hollywood mainstay. After her breakout role as Sally Draper on AMC’s Mad Men, she went on to star as Sabrina Spellman in Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and most recently, as a Las Vegas dancer in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl. Now, on HBO’s hit finance drama Industry, Shipka portrays Tender executive assistant Hayley Clay, quickly becoming entangled with the infamous power couple Yasmin Kara Hanani and Henry Muck, played by Marisa Abela and Kit Harington, respectively.
“My work has become more fun as I’ve gotten older,” Shipka explains. “I’m in a place in my career right now where I’m really excited about the work and I want to do good work. I’m growing up and so are the people that I play—and that’s an exciting thing to me.”
Shipka opens up about joining Industry’s latest season, the show’s buzzy cast, and trusting her gut when it comes to taking on more mature projects.
Why ‘Industry’ Clicked for Shipka
Her introduction to the role came via a script that was “very crazy and slightly confusing because they were all from different episodes and I didn’t know what was going on!” she recalls. But a meeting with Industry’s co-creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay made everything click. “I read the first four scripts of season four and met with them, and I knew it was something that I wanted to do. Binging the entire series before I started was also really fun because then it really made me go, wow, this is an amazing show.”
The Relatable Struggle with Finance Jargon
One of the most common viewer experiences with Industry is the initial confusion over its dense financial terminology. Shipka confirms it’s a shared feeling. “I think it’s a pretty common Industry watching experience. When I first started watching I thought, Kiernan, what has gone wrong? I do not understand what’s happening here. It’s been a relief to know that wasn’t only my experience.”
This lack of understanding is, in fact, a core strength of the show. “That’s kind of the power of the show and the acting though—you don’t need to know every single teensy, weensy bit of jargon to know when something’s going wrong. It’s about the characters and the emotions behind everything at the end of the day,” Shipka notes. “I fell so in love with all these characters, even though they are doing a lot of really shady things.”
Hayley Clay: The Thrillingly Secretive Character
What intrigued Shipka most about her character, Hayley, is her constant state of being “three steps ahead of where we think she is.” This secrecy is what makes her so compelling to play. “It was actually pretty thrilling to feel like she was holding some cards close to her chest and as an actor, a really fun challenge to really map out her journey and where she was going and plant seeds into scenes that would become different if you watch them back after having seen another episode. She is a very Easter-eggy kind of character and I’ve never really had a chance to do that before.”
Hayley’s trajectory brings her into the orbit of the show’s central power couple, and Shipka praises her co-stars. “They’re both such great people and incredible performers. One of the fun things about coming into the show in the fourth season was everybody was so lived-in when playing these characters. And that was very nice to jump into because a lot of these scenes, there’s already a lot to figure out and work out. So to [work with people] who are so comfortable in these characters was amazing.”
What Hayley is Really Searching For
While Hayley’s backstory remains a mystery, Shipka embraced the opportunity to create it for herself. “We don’t really know too much about her, so I got to create her own world leading up to when we meet her. That’s something that I always do as an actor when I’m about to play a character—come up with their childhood and every sort of essential beat before we meet them.”
At her core, Hayley is searching for a feeling, much like many of the show’s characters. “Many of these characters are chasing a feeling in a lot of ways and then there’s Hayley who is chasing the things that she thinks will give her that feeling. We see glimpses of her obviously in the intro at a club, trying to escape her life. She seems weightless and carefree and happy. Obviously that goes south in the morning, but she does yearn to feel a certain way.”
The Millennial Pursuit of Success and ‘Industry’s Zeitgeist
Shipka sees Industry as a sharp commentary on its time. “The show is about so many things but it’s really about this hunger and drive for more—a drive that quickly can become insidious and pervasive and take one out of just enjoying life or handling life in a way that is grounded in reality.” She highlights a key line from the first episode: “The problem with heaven on Earth is that nobody wants it when it’s here.”
She believes this speaks directly to a generation’s struggle. “It manifests in very extreme ways in this show, but running is hiding from something and running is refusing to meet the moment sometimes. I think that speaks to our time, and I think it speaks to the way that so many people can move about the world and it’s easy to get caught up in this more, more, more mindset.”
Embracing Gritty Storytelling as an Adult
Having been in the industry since she was a child, Shipka felt a shift in her own career and personal life. “I was 25 when I shot this and I had been feeling for a while that I was ready. There’s something really exciting to me about redefining oneself and reinvention or playing with people’s perceptions of you.”
She wasn’t actively chasing a more mature image, but rather waiting for the right project. “I feel like if I had forced it earlier, it would’ve been just that and looked like I was trying to prove something or trying to say something. When Industry came up, I didn’t know exactly what the role had in store. My first thought was this is a great show—these are incredible showrunners, amazing actors, etc. The bonus on top of that all was that Hayley feels grown up in a way that was exciting to me.”
The ‘Slow Burn’ Success of the Series
Unlike many hit shows, Industry has built its audience over time—a rare “slow burn success.” Shipka attributes its growing popularity to its boldness and the show’s fearlessness. “The show does such an amazing job of interrogating its own characters and being very unapologetic with its storytelling. At the end of the day, there are easy characters to attach to and want to know more about and want to be on this ride with.”
She also notes the show’s inherent shareability. “And I don’t necessarily think it’s intentional, but it’s such a inherently memeable and tweetable show. The fact that everyone involved with the show hasn’t been afraid to grow or evolve, even if that means abandoning some sort of identity of maybe what the show or what the character was… every season one-ups the last in boldness and recklessness.”
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