Myha’la doesn't take being #1 on the call sheet for granted

NEW YORK (AP) — Myha’la is best known for playing a steely, manipulative investment banker on HBO's “Industry,” so the thought of her breaking into song seems antithetical.

Yet the graduate of Carnegie Mellon’s prestigious drama school says when she told friends and former acting teachers she landed a starring role in the series, they assumed it was a stage comedy or musical.

“Nobody saw this trajectory for me. Not even me,” Myha’la told The Associated Press. “This has actually been sort of like a very happy accident and surprise that I have any career at all in TV/film. But I really, really love it and I think I’m more suited for it than I thought.”

Although “Industry” has been around since 2020, it’s this year’s third season that has received the most attention. Myha’la sees this year as the cast and creators’ “collective breakthrough,” but it’s her own work to find vulnerability in the unshakable, calculating, risk-loving Harper Stern that makes her one of The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024.

Myha’la, 28, had expected and hoped to start her career in theater when she got the part in “Industry,” and says she — and most of her castmates — have learned on the job. “My first time being #1 on the call sheet was a big deal,” she said. “We’d all basically just come out of school and didn’t know what we were doing.”

Though Harper regularly betrays friends and colleagues for personal gain, Myha’la manages to reveal her soft edges: “I don’t think I could do her justice if I didn’t find the humanity in her. I think, us as human beings, we hold multitudes and contradictions. We are the definition of a contradiction and that’s what makes us human. So to find that in every character I play is the most important to me.”

Besides “Industry,” she's acted in film with stars who have made an impression. She played Mahershala Ali’s daughter in the Netflix science-fiction drama “Leave the World Behind,” with Ethan Hawke and Julia Roberts. Myha’la says she was intimidated to work with “a bunch of legends who’ve been doing it way longer than I have.” But she was pleasantly surprised at how they embraced her. “They treated me like I was just another person in the cast, not a child, not inexperienced, not a junior. None of that,” Myha’la remembered.

Roberts has become a role model after Myha’la observed how she treated everyone on set.

“She’s incredibly patient. She doesn’t behave like she’s the icon that she is,” the actor said. “A generous, respectful person who has integrity. And I really love the way people responded to her. That’s … the person I want to be. I want to come in and command a room with kindness and do my job really well.”

Doing her job well landed her roles in two notable films coming next year — “Swiped,” with Lily James starring as the founder of Bumble, and “They Will Kill You,” with Zazie Beetz — in addition to the fourth season of “Industry.”

Myha’la’s personal life also blossomed this year when she got engaged to her boyfriend of four years. She loves telling the story of their ultimate meet-cute, which started when he direct messaged her on Instagram during the pandemic saying he was an “Industry” fan.

“He was incredibly invested in me, and not in a creepy way — in a really sincere, curious way. And I was so struck by that,” she said.

Grateful for the TV and film roles, Myha’la still holds out hope that one day she’ll make her Broadway debut. “The dream is not dead!” she said with a smile.

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For more on AP’s 2024 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, visit https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers