One of the elements of industry What Ken Leung found most intriguing about Season 3 was the brand new relationship between his character Eric Tao and Marisa Abela’s character Yasmine Kara Hanani.
“I had heard before we started filming that something was going to happen between Eric and Yasmin,” Leung told Mashable in a video interview. “Everything that happens on the show, everything that I could have imagined or predicted, just kind of happened out of nowhere. Up until that point, Eric and Yasmin had nothing to do with each other, and then all of a sudden, they were going to be together in some way, and I was so curious to see how that would happen.”
Industry Season 3 review: Now’s the perfect time to invest in HBO’s financial drama
What caused Eric and Yasmin to suddenly become close? industry What they have in common is their connection to Harper Stern (Mihala), Eric’s former protégé and Yasmeen’s best friend. When Eric fired Harper at the end of Season 2, it left a big opening at Pierpoint, but who else would fill it besides Yasmeen?
But from the season three premiere, it’s clear that Eric and Yasmeen’s relationship is quite different from Eric and Harper’s: Eric is unsympathetic to her status as tabloid fodder and unimpressed with her performance. In his view, Yasmeen lacks Harper’s drive and hunger, and is hindered by outside forces that make her a burden to Pierpoint.
The differences between Harper and Yasmin’s backgrounds and approaches to work were key to Leong understanding how Eric viewed Yasmin. “Harper is well-known. Eric is attracted to her because he sees something in her that is similar to himself. Yasmin is the opposite,” Leong explained. “She’s totally unknown. She’s not your typical graduate. She has personal wealth but she doesn’t know – or doesn’t seem to know – why she’s there or what she wants. So she’s a big question mark.”
Mashable Top Stories
Marisa Abela in “Industry.”
Credit: Simon Ridgway / HBO
Yasmeen’s “unknown” nature begins to become clear to Eric later in the premiere, during a cocaine-fueled night out with Yasmeen’s lawyer (Fiona Button). HR infractions pile up and Yasmeen, donning a lawyer wig, opens up to Eric. She confesses she’s scared of Eric and feels he’s “just skipped a few awkward stages in a relationship.” It feels like Pierpoint HR is about to burst into the room.
At the heart of this cocaine-fueled conversation is the sense that Yasmeen and Eric can be equals on the trading floor: “Let’s try to remember that feeling when we’re sober,” Yasmeen implores Eric.
In episode two, she holds Eric to her demands after he accuses her of manipulating rumors about Rumi’s IPO launch. “Why don’t you just talk to me like you talked to me last night,” she tells him. “Like I’m a human being.”
According to Leon, it was this interaction that truly changed Eric’s opinion of Yasmeen. “To our surprise, she reached out to him in a way that we never expected. She had the strength to say, ‘Stop the bullshit. Stop acting like you always do,'” Leon says. “In that moment, Eric realized there was a familiar element to this unknown presence, which slowly drew him in, and he ended up falling for her.”
It’s no coincidence that Eric’s “obsession” with Yasmeen coincides with his separation from his wife: He’s re-entered the dating world, has casual sex (including with Yasmeen’s lawyer), has started using drugs again, and is basically still acting like the young alum from season one, even though he’s now joined by Pierrepoint’s partners.
“As Eric struggles with growing older and moving away from this youthful business, Yasmin represents something new, something young,” Leung says. “She represents everything he is desperately trying to recapture and hold onto.”
industry It’s currently streaming on Max, with new episodes airing Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and Max.
2 Comments
Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.
Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.