NEW YORK (AP) — Myha’la is greatest identified for taking part in a steely, manipulative funding banker on HBO’s “Industry,” so the considered her breaking into track appears antithetical.
But the graduate of Carnegie Mellon’s prestigious drama college says when she advised pals and former performing lecturers she landed a starring position within the collection, they assumed it was a stage comedy or musical.
“Nobody saw this trajectory for me. Not even me,” Myha’la advised The Related 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.”
Though “Industry” has been round since 2020, it’s this yr’s third season that has acquired probably the most consideration. Myha’la sees this yr because the forged and creators’ “collective breakthrough,” however it’s her personal work to seek out vulnerability within the unshakable, calculating, risk-loving Harper Stern that makes her one in every of The Related Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024.
Myha’la, 28, had anticipated and hoped to begin her profession in theater when she received the half in “Industry,” and says she — and most of her castmates — have realized on the job. “My first time being #1 on the call sheet was a big deal,” she mentioned. “We’d all basically just come out of school and didn’t know what we were doing.”
Although Harper recurrently betrays pals and colleagues for private achieve, Myha’la manages to disclose her delicate 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.”
In addition to “Industry,” she’s acted in movie with stars who’ve made an impression. She performed Mahershala Ali’s daughter within 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.” However she was pleasantly stunned 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 change into a task mannequin after Myha’la noticed how she handled everybody on set.
“She’s incredibly patient. She doesn’t behave like she’s the icon that she is,” the actor mentioned. “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 nicely landed her roles in two notable movies coming subsequent yr — “Swiped,” with Lily James starring because the founding father of Bumble, and “They Will Kill You,” with Zazie Beetz — along with the fourth season of “Industry.”
Myha’la’s private life additionally blossomed this yr when she received engaged to her boyfriend of 4 years. She loves telling the story of their final meet-cute, which began when he direct messaged her on Instagram through 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 mentioned.
Grateful for the TV and movie roles, Myha’la nonetheless holds out hope that someday she’ll make her Broadway debut. “The dream is not dead!” she mentioned with a smile.
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For extra on AP’s 2024 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, go to https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers
