In some ways, it’s felt like we’ve grown up alongside Kiernan Shipka. She had her first role as a baby on TV at just five months old on ER, before becoming Sally Draper in Mad Men in 2006. From there, she took on perfectly age-appropriate roles, voicing Jinora in Nickelodeon’s The Legend of Korra, and as the title character in YA series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Over the past two years, she’s started branching out into more mature roles, in films such as Longlegs, Twisters and The Last Showgirl, but her latest turn as Haley in Industry Season 4 proves she’s well and truly shed her child-star image.
During Episode 3, Shipka’s character is seen having a threesome with Henry (Kit Harington) and his wife Yasmin (Marisa Abela), who happen to yield an immense amount of power over her. As is the case with Industry, it’s a drawn-out sex scene, lingering much more than most TV shows dare. Shipka tells Refinery29 she didn’t deliberately choose to be part of Industry for the sake of being seen as more grown up, but it’s come about in a natural and intentional way. “I’ve sort of taken my time [and] I think I was really itching to play something that was a bit more adult and a bit older, being that I’m 26 now. I was 25 when I shot the show, and I wanted to do something that was in that space and felt reflective of who I was [in terms of] the age,” Shipka says. “But I think if I had done it earlier, it would have been me forcing it, and this just felt like a show that I wanted to be part of anyway, and it was also a plus that I got to show myself in sort of a different way than people are used to seeing me.”
She acknowledges that it’s a “tricky transition” when you start as a child star, but the actor hasn’t been stressed about choosing the exact right career move. “I’ve always wanted to prioritise patience over doing something impulsive that wasn’t right. And I feel really lucky that I get to be part of great projects and pick fun things,” Shipka explains. “There’s pros and cons to starting that young, but I think there’s something inherently exciting about redefining yourself. And I find myself in that moment right now, and I find myself really excited by it.”
I think there’s something inherently exciting about redefining yourself. And I find myself in that moment right now, and I find myself really excited by it.
Kiernan Shipka
Joining an established and loved series in a later season is tough for even the most seasoned pros, yet Shipka wasn’t fazed by the high stakes. For the actor, she found the project excited her, and took value from each scene, including that sex scene in Episode 3. “That [scene] honestly has so much going on outside of the sex itself, like it’s a big emotional catalyst for all three characters in very vastly different ways. And I think that’s what I loved about the scene so much, was that it was kind of layered,” she recalls. “It was a really enriching scene to shoot. I mean, it felt like it was an important scene.”
The Industry creators have been vocal about how the show uses intimacy coordinators on set, especially seeing as the show has a high rate of nudity and sex throughout. Shipka says her sex scene with Harington and Abela was choreographed before the shoot day, so it didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. “Everything was talked about beforehand, and we had an intimacy coordinator and really mapped out the scene so that on the day we could just focus on the characters and the scene itself,” she says. “Everyone’s a pro, so it was nice.” Abela’s character Yasmin has an unusual connection with Haley, so every scene they shot together (including this one) helped develop their bond. “[Abela is] so magnetic, she’s so present. It’s so easy to act with her, because she’s so amazing. We had so much fun,” Shipka says. “I think there’s a really special bond between Haley and Yasmin that even sort of lifts off what’s scripted and is just sort of in the air. And so much of that is a testament to chemistry, and Marisa is just such a force that it’s so easy to be captivated by her.”
I think I was really itching to play something that was a bit more adult and a bit older, being that I’m 26 now.
Kiernan Shipka
The star is unable to share any spoilers about how important her character Haley will be down the line, but hints that there could be a power shift. She seems to be at the bottom of the pecking order, with lines constantly being stepped over by her bosses (as expected, this is Industry, after all), but even the most die-hard fans will be intrigued by what’s to come. “This season [circulates] around this theme of power and how power can look so different for different people. And I think you have someone like Haley, who presents as someone who is not in a position of power at all, and yet she finds it, and she finds her power throughout this system.
“I think it’s great to tell Haley’s version of that through her eyes, because it’s a version, and to tell only one story of power isn’t really the whole picture.”
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