Kit Harington Dives Into The ‘Muck’ For a Sizzling Season 3 of INDUSTRY

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Kit Harington admitted he doesn’t really appreciate it when HBO’s INDUSTRY gets measured against other classic HBO series, including GAME OF THRONES. Season 3 of INDUSTRY premieres Sunday, Aug. 11 on Crave, with Harington joining the cast as green-energy entrepreneur Sir Henry Muck. Harington is best known for playing Jon Snow over eight seasons on GAME OF THRONES (all episodes of both series are on Crave). “I had seen the first two seasons (of INDUSTRY) and loved it,” Harington said during a panel interview. “I actually don’t like it being compared to other shows. I know we do it all the time. But being compared to SUCCESSION, and EUPHORIA, and all of that – (INDUSTRY) is its own thing. And I thought it was entirely unique as a show.” So what was Harington’s biggest worry? “I think my main challenge was to try and come in and not ruin it,” he said. “Like, to not ruin a show I loved, to not be the guy who comes in and they’re like, ‘this doesn’t work.’ ” Harington has no reason to fret. The addition of Sir Henry Muck allows INDUSTRY to dive into uncharted dramatic waters, push the other characters into new dilemmas, and ask some hard philosophical questions about “woke investing” and “greenwashing.” “I’ve known a lot of people like Henry – I’ve just met a lot of them,” Harington said. “And I think that what I found fascinating about him was that he can’t see his own privilege, amazingly. He might say he does, but he can’t see it. He’s kind of within this net of privilege that he can’t see out of, and can’t see how he’s held. And yet at the same time, within that little gilded cage, these horrific things have happened in his life. And I thought that was a fascinating place to start with someone, and explore someone in that place of privilege, and yet they’re deeply, deeply, deeply not happy, and don’t know who they are. It’s that story, really.” Sir Henry Muck is also an ultra-modern male in a questionable way that fascinated Harington. “The idea of someone charming and yet threatening is a really fun one to play,” Harington said. “We had this joke about how many times he uses the word ‘vulnerable’ in the show. He’s that modern guy who has gone to therapy, and understands fully that the world has changed, and that he, as a man, has to change with it, but he will now manipulate women with ‘therapy chat.’ And he can’t see it. I just thought, what a wonderful character to get on board with.” As Season 3 begins, Sir Henry Muck’s green-energy tech company, Lumi, is being guided toward its imminent IPO (initial public offering) by London investment bank Pierpoint, which has been the foundation of the plot in INDUSTRY. Henry’s closest contact with Pierpoint is Robert Spearing, played by Harry Lawtey, who is at Henry’s side – literally – on a daily basis. “We got quite a bromance going quite quickly,” Harington said of Lawtey. “I think (the characters’) relationship is fascinating because of their backgrounds. With this season being in so many ways about the British class system – me and Harry spoke about this – they sort of love and hate each other. And I think that goes right back to their class. You know, Robert has a working-class background, with Henry being from a more aristocratic kind of upper-class background. And traditionally in the U.K., those two class systems tend to join forces, and like each other, in the mutual hatred of the middle class. And I thought that was useful for us going through it, in that we kind of loved and hated each other in that way.” It also doesn’t take long for Henry to become fascinated by Pierpoint employee Yasmin Kara-Hanani, played by Marisa Abela. Yasmin, who comes from a wealthy background herself, and initially was a nepotism hire, is dealing with some monumental issues of her own, and as Henry commiserates, “I know what it’s like having a family member ruin your life. So I know what you’re going through. The kids are always collateral.” Harington took time to praise the entire INDUSTRY cast, which also includes Myha’la as Harper Stern, Ken Leung as Eric Tao, Sagar Radia as Rishi Ramdani, Canadian Sarah Goldberg as Petra Koenig, and many more. “Thematically, story-wise and all of those things, this show I don’t think is comparable in any way to GAME OF THRONES, but as far as my experience within this show as an actor goes, it’s actually very similar,” Harington explained. “And I say that because there are a lot of brilliantly talented young actors here, and this was their first job. That was my experience on GAME OF THRONES. I genuinely believe that in a successful TV show such as this, or GAME OF THRONES, a lot of the work is done offset. It’s in the relationships that are built up, how people kind of get on, it’s a family unit. And if that’s working, then the show can go and work. So in that way, there are similarities to, you know, that little previous show I was on.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv