‘It was like I’d run six marathons then they said do a seventh’ – how Industry’s Marisa Abela hit peak form
Six years and three seasons later, Abela is at the centre of one of the most talked-about shows on television, recently named the New Yorker’s top series of 2024 and widely described as the heir to Succession, in that it is another transatlantic success for HBO focused on the world of the elite. Its latest season has 98% positive ratings on
“We all knew you don’t get this kind of chance at the beginning of your career very often. We were so passionate about making it great, and I think that passion has fuelled the show to be as energetic and ambitious as it is.gave us the space to get to where we are now is amazing,” says Abela. The show’s slow-burn success sends a signal to the creative industries, she adds. “You can take a chance on new ideas and fresh faces, and it will work – especially if you’re able to give it time.
Her performance this season – playing Yasmin as brittle, coy and deeply damaged – highlighted the humanity of a character audiences haven’t necessarily been inclined to feel sorry for. Abela never struggled to sympathise with Yasmin, though. Even in the first series, she says, “she was essentially being bullied by her boss; she wasn’t taken seriously by her family or by her colleagues. She is incredibly privileged and unaware, that is true – but it didn’t make me hate her.