one of the elements industry What interests Ken Leung the most in season three is his role as Eric Tao and Marisa Abela’s Yasmin Kara- Hanani).
“Before we shot anything, I was told that something was going to happen between Eric and Yasmin,” Liang told Mashable in a video interview. “Everything that happened on the show and that I could imagine or predict happened out of nowhere. Eric and Yasmeen had no relationship before that, and suddenly, somehow, they would come together, So I’m curious how this will happen.
‘Industry’ Season 3 Review: Now’s the Best Time to Invest in HBO’s Financial Drama
The catalyst for Eric and Yasmin’s sudden approach industry It’s their shared connection with Eric’s former protégé and Yasmeen’s frenemy, Harper Stern (Mikhala). When Eric fired Harper at the end of season two, Pierpoint was left with a huge seat to fill — and who else could fill it but Yasmeen?
However, it’s clear from the Season 3 premiere that Eric and Yasmin’s relationship won’t be like Eric and Harper’s. He was unsympathetic to her status as tabloid fodder and uninterested in her performance. In his view, Yasmine lacks Harper’s drive and desire and is hindered by external forces, making her a burden to Pierpoint.
The differences between Harper and Yasmin’s respective backgrounds and working methods were key to Liang’s understanding of how Eric viewed Yasmin. “Harper is a well-known entity. The reason Eric is attracted to her is that he sees something of himself in her. Yasmin is the other side,” Leong explained. “She’s a complete unknown. She’s not your typical graduate. She has personal wealth; she doesn’t know why she’s there or what she wants – or looks like she doesn’t. So she’s a very Big question mark.
Popular stories that can be mixed and matched
Marisa Abella in “Industry.”
Photo credit: Simon Ridgway/HBO
Yasmeen’s “unknowable” qualities begin to reveal themselves to Eric later in the premiere, when the pair go out for an impromptu drink with Yasmeen’s lawyer (Fiona Barton) Cocaine. HR violations pile up when Yasmin bares her soul to Eric in a lawyer’s wig. She admits she finds Eric scary, while Eric says he feels they “just skipped a few awkward stages in their relationship.” Pierpoint’s HR department should be bursting into the room any minute now, right?
At the heart of the tense conversation was the feeling that Yasmeen and Eric were now equals on the trading floor. “Let’s try to remember what it felt like to be awake,” Yasmin implored Eric.
In the second episode, she demands that Eric comply after he accuses her of manipulating rumors about Lumi’s IPO. “Why don’t you tell me about the way you spoke to me last night,” she told him. “You know, like I’m a human being.”
Liang said this exchange really changed Eric’s view of Yasmeen. “Lo and behold, she came up to Eric in a way that we probably didn’t expect. She had the power to say, ‘Stop talking nonsense. Stop this show you’ve been putting on,'” Liang said. “In that moment, Eric saw that this unknown entity had a known element. It gradually drew him to a point that fascinated her.”
It’s no coincidence that Eric’s “obsession” with Yasmeen coincided with his separation from his wife. Eric jumped back into the dating pool, had casual sex (including with Yasmeen’s lawyer), and started using drugs again. Basically, he acts like the young graduate from season one, even as he joins the ranks of Pierpoint’s partners.
“As Eric battles aging in this young man’s business, [Yasmin] It represents something new and young,” Liang said. “She represented everything he was desperately trying to recapture and hold on to.
industry Now streaming on Max, new episodes will air on HBO and Max on Sundays at 9pm ET.
