Kiernan Shipka discusses ‘Industry' episode everyone is talking about

Kiernan Shipka has joined Industry in its fourth season, which premiered this year, on January 11.

The 26-year-old actress plays Hayley Clay on the show, an ambitious assistant to the two of the show’s protagonists, played by Kit Harington and Max Minghella.

Kiernan, who grew up in the spotlight as a popular child star — most famously appearing on Mad Men — took on new challenges as part of the mature HBO Max drama.

The actress shed her child and teen actor persona, which was additionally charged by her appearance on Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, to step into the spotlight as an adult.

She is seen performing a threesome in the third episode of Industry’s latest season, which dropped on Sunday — an experience described by the actress as “brave” and “rule-breaking” in a show that often manages to “get away” with it, according to her.

“It’s such an important scene for all three characters,” she told Variety about the sequence she performed alongside Harington and Marisa Abela, who plays his wife Yasmine in the series.

“But what I think is so interesting about that scene is that everybody’s got this wildly different emotional arc: You’re doing something together, but everyone is on kind of their own journey.”

While reflecting on the early start for her career, she said, “I mean, I’m 26 now, but people have known me since I was 6.”

“And I’m very aware of what kind of weight that holds. So for them to say, ‘Hey, I think she’s the girl for Hayley,’ is very exciting for me,” she added, referencing the show’s casting director Julie Harkin and co-creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay.

“It’s a part I love. So I was definitely aware that I was doing something more mature,” she added. “But I wasn’t really thinking, ‘I’ve really got to do this sort of thing next.’ It’s about the people and the material.”

Kiernan Shipka’s conversation concluded by her addressing the challenge her latest role might pose for “someone’s perspectives” of her “as a performer”, as she said that “when it goes up against stuff I’ve done previously, that’s so exciting and so fun.”