More New Faces Added for 'Industry' Season 4

The slow-boil hit Industry is one of the more interesting success stories of the 2020s. Initially launched on HBO and BBC 2 during the height of the Autumn 2020 lockdowns, the series was an instant hit across the pond where "Lockdown 2" was in full effect, and a TV series about good-looking young people in a "work hard party harder" career track was precisely the right sort of escapism. However, here in the States, HBO and the newly launched HBO Max were discovering that "if you build it, they will automatically watch" was not a viable marketing strategy, and the series' first season utterly failed to make an impact. However, four seasons in, the show is finally catching on... just as the entire cast turns over.

Just because Americans overlooked the show right away doesn't mean the cast needs to stick around now that the U.S. viewership is finally climbing. The series' original four core cast members from the first two seasons (Marisa Abela, Myha'la Herrold, David Jonsson, and Harry Lawtey) weren't just in a U.K. hit; the COVID-driven entertainment news of the time turned them into household names, to the point that Myha'la was able to go full on mononym before Season 3's debut. 

Jonsson had already moved on when U.S. audiences started watching in Season 3, leaving behind the series for more significant projects like Murder Is Easy. Now Lawtey is also exiting for larger, more high-profile projects, like Mr. Burton, where he plays the famous actor Richard Burton as a teenager. In an interview discussing the forthcoming Season 4, the series showrunners, Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, admitted that Lawtey's cited "scheduling conflicts" were really a mutual decision by all parties, his character's arc was done, and he was free to move on.

The production already announced a few replacements to start filling in the massive gaps these leave-takings are creating, with Jack Farthing (Poldark), Max Minghella (The Handmaid's Tale), and Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) all boarding the show for Season 4. Now, three more high-profile actors are joining the new season. American actor Kal Penn (American Horror Story) headlines the set and will play Jay Jonah Atterbury, described as the “CEO and founder of payment processor Tender,” a clear spoof on PayPal. But the U.K. set series also has two British actors on board for Season 4: Stranger Things' Charlie Heaton and Domina's Claire Forlani.

Heaton is the second Stranger Things cast member to land another series immediately after completing the Netflix thriller. Only a few weeks ago, Jamie Campbell Bower was announced to join Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for Season 3. (Millie Bobby Brown also has multiple projects coming out, but she's been producing her own films and TV series for years already.) Heaton was less assured of a solid landing, as he's been sadly underused in Stranger Things' last couple of seasons. Let's hope his new role, in which he'll play Jim Dycker, “a finance journalist,” does better.

Forlani was a major star in the 1990s known for Mallrats, The Rock, and Basquiat. She's been working steadily for the last three decades, though in not nearly as high-profile roles; hopefully, her turn as Cordelia Hanani-Spyrka, a “corporate PR heavy-hitter,” will remind viewers how great she is.

There's no synopsis for Season 4, though in the aforementioned interview, when asked what Season 4 would focus on, Down responded, “As always—money and class. What else is there??”

Those who are returning or Season 4 include stalwarts Marisa Abela (Back to Black), Myha'la (Black Mirror), Ken Leung (Star Wars), and Sagar Radia (The Good Karma Hospital), with Miriam Petche (The Worst Witch) and Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) also reprising their roles from previous seasons. Previously announced new additions include Farthing, Minghella, and Jimoh, plus Amy James-Kelly (Three Families) and Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men).

Down and Kay serve as the writing/directing team for Season 4 and executive produce alongside Jane Tranter, Kate Crowther, and Ryan Rasmussen for Bad Wolf and Rebecca Ferguson for BBC. Kathleen McCaffrey of Little Gems will join as executive producer for the new season.

Industry Season 4 is currently filming and is expected out sometime in 2026.