Industry star Marisa Abela has opened up about hopes for her character, who stooped to disturbing lows in the latest season of the BBC and HBO’s buzzy drama series.
After starting out as a promising young trader working for investment bank Pierpoint & Co, Yasmin Kara-Hanani (played by Abela) has since scrapped any illusion of legitimacy for a much darker form of business.
When we parted ways with her at the end of season 4, she had begun brokering seedy encounters between ultra-wealthy, often far-right men and young women – sometimes even underage girls.
It was a storyline that, grimly, felt ripped from the headlines, amid widespread reporting of the Epstein files, exposing the powerful connections of the disgraced financier and convicted paedophile.
As all eyes turn to the confirmed fifth and final season of Industry, Abela reflected on the unflinching storyline in an interview with Deadline.
“What was crazy was that, even when we were shooting, [the Epstein scandal] wasn’t as much in the public consciousness,” she recalled. “As the show was coming out, it was the height of the Epstein situation.”
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Abela continued: “And I think that was, candidly, incredibly difficult, to be in some weird way commenting on something so purely evil. I’ve tried to wrestle with Yasmin’s intentions for so long, and then for it to be part of something so much bigger — it was difficult.”
The star went on to draw parallels between Yasmin and Epstein’s convicted collaborator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Within the context of everyone involved, a woman doing this just seems completely out of any natural way of being… Women are held to such to a higher moral standard, so to understand how a person has gotten to this place just does not seem in any way understandable.
“I think Yasmin will find her way out of it faster than anyone in that real world did, because I don’t think it’s where she wants to be,” added Abela, who is confident that the character “understands” that her actions are “wrong”.
The actor, also known for Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black and spy thriller Black Bag, concluded that she hopes for some redemption for Yasmin when the show enters its final chapter – but concedes that will be a “challenge” for the writers.
“I think that when Mickey [Down] and Konrad [Kay, creators] write something for themselves, they want to be able to expand on it and explore it intelligently, rather than pretend it never happened, because it’s kind of a challenge, I guess.
“I hope that what they would rather do is work away from it in an intelligent way, rather than towards it.”
Industry is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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