Marisa Abela Will See You Now
Stylist: Natasha Wray, Photographer: Laura McCluskey
It’s only the first week in September but a gloomy grey sky and cold winds are already signalling the end of summer. Around King’s Cross, Londoners are dressed in denial about the dip in temperature with bare legs and vest tees. Not Marisa Abela. She arrives at the restaurant where we’re meeting, engulfed in a large tailored wool black coat and wide leg jeans. ‘I think we’ve just got to embrace it,’ she says of the change in weather with a grin.
It's easy to understand why she’s excited about autumn. October heralds the return of her show Industry to the BBC, the hit drama chronicling a group of dangerously ambitious graduates embarking on a career in London’s financial epicentre amidst a backdrop of risky deals, backstabbing and questionable moral compasses (plus plenty of recreational drugs). Since its U.S. release in August, now in HBO’s coveted Sunday night 9pm slot — formerly home to The Sopranos, Game of Thrones and Succession — critics have given it glowing reviews, and the network has renewed it for a fourth season. ‘It’s so weird living here, when it’s already out over there,’ says Abela with a hint of impatience.
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The 27-year-old landed the leading role of Yasmin Kara-Hanani during her third year of Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), leaving just before graduation to decamp to Cardiff for filming. Creators, former bankers Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, intentionally targeted final-year students as their leads; searching for hungry new actors with three years of dramatic training under their belt but who would be unrecognisable to the audience.
Credits: Blazer, £945, Trousers, £400 (both Sportsmax), WNU shirt, £95, Boss tie, £69, Panthère earrings, £POA, Panthère watch, £5,450, Panthère bag, £4,000 (all Cartier).
Born and raised in Brighton, Abela discovered the theatre world through her mother, a stage actor, who worked in a call centre during the day. She recalls watching her mum and sobbing uncontrollably when it finished. She was seven years old. ‘I feel the same now whenever I see her on stage. When my parents broke up, she worked so hard to make sure my brother and I never wanted for anything, but she also did not give up on the thing that made her happy. I always think of that as the bravest, most powerful thing. I'm so proud of her for that reason.’
Abela’s dad was a stand-up comedian, a trade profession her brother has followed into. Her parents separated when she was four, which sparked a childhood sense of duty and perfectionism in her, striving to get good grades and ensuring she always had good news to share with either parent. A performing arts scholarship and academic bursary led her to a competitive prep, Roedean School. But no subject could eclipse her love of drama. ‘Every time I went to the theatre, I’d look in the programme under the names of actors and more often than not they were from RADA,’ she says of the drama school she set her sights on. ‘These very talented working actors all trained there and I really respected that.’
Credits: Duran Lantik blazer, around £2,082, Ralph Lauren Collection shirt, £600, Boss tie, £69, Emporio Armani trousers, £350, Cartier Tank Française watch, £4,500.
Throughout its first two seasons, Industry amassed a steady cult following and received critical acclaim both here and in the U.S. There is undeniably a greater change in pace for this third instalment, which has been reflected in increasing viewing figures in the U.S, which HBO say are up 40% on season two. This time around, Abela is thrust centre stage with an explosive storyline and the graduates, Yasmin, Harper (Myha’la) and Robert (Harry Lawtey) are now associates, meaning the stakes are higher.
Only adding to its growth in status, Industry has added Kit Harington to its cast for season three. ‘I couldn’t believe it, he’s such an icon of British television and HBO,’ Abela nods with excitement, later saying she’s off to see him in Slave Play that evening. The two actors share many pivotal scenes together as their characters’ professional and personal lives become entwined. And she has nothing but praise for Harington’s handling of their intimate scenes. ‘Kit’s done a lot of this before and there has to be a lot of trust there. There was a shower scene, and he made sure that his arm was in the perfect place, he’s a gentleman. Those scenes are always weird but when you have people that are very gentle and generous, it's great.’
She says Industry has always used intimacy co-ordinators, ‘I was in my second year at drama school when #Me Too happened and I've benefitted from so many brave people, especially women, coming forward and making the industry a safer space for people like me.
Credits: Blazer, £1,800, Skirt, £1,530 (both Michael Kors Collection), Sportsmax boots, £930, Boss tie, £69, Ralph Lauren shirt, £600, Panthère watch, £POA, Panthère ring, £3,500, Santos necklace, £8,150, LOVE earrings, £3,500, Panthère bag, £4,000 (all Cartier), stylist's own belt.
The show’s tight-knit cast of characters has also helped. They are ‘genuinely some of my closest friends,’ says Abela, who was on the phone to Myha’la just yesterday and recently discussed a potential new job over a long call with Lawtey. ‘It's actually incredibly useful to have peers figuring it all out at the same time,’ she says.
Abela wrapped filming on Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, in which she portrayed the beloved Grammy-winning singer, just one week before starting again on Industry, which took its toll. ‘I didn't go method for Amy, but you just can't help it infiltrating your life. There are so many important acts of self-care that you just forget to do when you're working. So when I was done, I was just a bit empty,’ she says. ‘I had been working for eight months on the Amy film and I was physically and emotionally exhausted. It couldn't have been any other job [that followed so closely], it was very good that it was Industry and that it was Yasmin.'
Credits: Left: Blazer, £3,600, skirt, £1,470, shoes, £970 (all Miu Miu), WNU shirt, £95, Tank Française watch, £4,500, Panthèrering, £11,900, Panthère earrings, £POA (all Cartier). Right: Coat, £2,300, Trousers, £1,150, shoes, £760 (all Stella McCartney), WNU shirt, £95, Tank Française watch, £POA, Panthère de ring, £3,500 (all Cartier).
She credits her boyfriend, (‘fiancé!’, she corrects herself smiling) theatre actor Jamie Bogyo for being a rock throughout. She recalls the first day of filming Back to Black, when pictures of Abela as Winehouse went viral. Overwhelmed, she arrived home to Bogyo, who had lit candles around the house and run her a bath. ‘He gave me a hug on the bed, and I literally fell asleep in that hug and woke up in the morning in the exact same position. That was honestly the moment that I thought, “I can’t wait to marry him.”’
Bogyo proposed this summer on Primrose Hill, the very location they met as first-year RADA students in 2016. ‘Thankfully, the England game was on, so it was completely dead,’ she laughs. And then Bogyo had invited Abela’s best friends and family to a surprise dinner in Soho to celebrate afterwards. ‘He’s the most supportive, generous, kind, funny and amazing person. He’s the best, I’m so lucky.’
Credits: Blazer, £2,260, trousers, £1,090 (both) McQueen by Seán McGirr), Pathère de Cartier earrings, £POA.
Last month, Bogyo accompanied Abela to the Venice Film Festival. ‘I did a panel for Miu Miu Women’s Tales with Chase Sui Wonders and Cailee Spaeny, female actors I really admire. Just listening to them was amazing,’ Abela says, clearly relishing the work with fashion houses – from Cartier to Fendi - her ascent on screen has brought with it. She ‘loves’ working with her stylist Aimee Croysdill on looks for the red carpet and gets animated describing in detail a new Ferragamo bag she’s just bought. ‘I think there’s something really cool about booking a job and being like, “I’m going to buy myself a handbag”.’
There will likely be more handbags if Abela’s start is anything to go by. Explaining she recently underwent ‘hands down, one of the best professional experiences I’ve ever had’, working alongside Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender on Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming spy thriller Black Bag. She describes meeting Blanchett as a pinch-me moment. ‘She is so kind and, my God is that woman cool.’ The best part? After finishing a ‘big scene’, Blanchett and Fassbender came over and complimented her: ‘I went home that night and thought, “that is maybe a career highlight.”’
Leading a biopic, having a major storyline in the TV hit of autumn, filming with her idols and getting engaged… 2024 was a monumental year for Abela. ‘I feel great,’ she smiles. ‘For the first time I’m being quite picky with roles. I love working and would do it every day if I could… but it’s about thinking about what the overall picture is…’ And then, her voice going up an octave. ‘I’ve got to plan a wedding!’
Series 3 of Industry airs on BBC from October 1.
Lead image credits: Jacket, £1,250, trousers, £650, gilet, £390 (all Emporio Armani), GH Bass shoes, £200, Socks, stylists own, Cartier LOVE earrings, £3,500, Tank Française watch, £POA, Panthère ring, £3,500, Bag, £2,310 (all Cartier).
DOP: Peter Butterworth, Hair: Anastasia Stylianou, Make-Up: Pamela Cochrane at C/O Management, Manicure: Michelle Class @ LMC, Stylist assistant: Hadya Toufiq.
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