NEW YORK (AP) - Myha´la is best known for playing a steely, manipulative investment banker on HBO's "Industry," so the thought of her breaking into song seems antithetical.
Yet the graduate of Carnegie Mellon´s prestigious drama school says when she told friends and former acting teachers she landed a starring role in the series, they assumed it was a stage comedy or musical.
"Nobody saw this trajectory for me. Not even me," Myha´la told The Associated Press. "This has actually been sort of like a very happy accident and surprise that I have any career at all in TV/film. But I really, really love it and I think I´m more suited for it than I thought."
Although "Industry" has been around since 2020, it´s this year´s third season that has received the most attention. Myha´la sees this year as the cast and creators´ "collective breakthrough," but it´s her own work to find vulnerability in the unshakable, calculating, risk-loving Harper Stern that makes her one of The Associated Press´ Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024.
Myha´la, 28, had expected and hoped to start her career in theater when she got the part in "Industry," and says she - and most of her castmates - have learned on the job. "My first time being #1 on the call sheet was a big deal," she said. "We´d all basically just come out of school and didn´t know what we were doing."
Though Harper regularly betrays friends and colleagues for personal gain, Myha´la manages to reveal her soft edges: "I don´t think I could do her justice if I didn´t find the humanity in her. I think, us as human beings, we hold multitudes and contradictions. We are the definition of a contradiction and that´s what makes us human. So to find that in every character I play is the most important to me."
Besides "Industry," she's acted in film with stars who have made an impression. She played Mahershala Ali´s daughter in the Netflix science-fiction drama "Leave the World Behind," with Ethan Hawke and Julia Roberts. Myha´la says she was intimidated to work with "a bunch of legends who´ve been doing it way longer than I have." But she was pleasantly surprised at how they embraced her. "They treated me like I was just another person in the cast, not a child, not inexperienced, not a junior. None of that," Myha´la remembered.
Roberts has become a role model after Myha´la observed how she treated everyone on set.
"She´s incredibly patient. She doesn’t behave like she’s the icon that she is," the actor said. "A generous, respectful person who has integrity. And I really love the way people responded to her. That’s ... the person I want to be. I want to come in and command a room with kindness and do my job really well."
Doing her job well landed her roles in two notable films coming next year - "Swiped," with Lily James starring as the founder of Bumble, and "They Will Kill You," with Zazie Beetz - in addition to the fourth season of "Industry."
Myha´la´s personal life also blossomed this year when she got engaged to her boyfriend of four years. She loves telling the story of their ultimate meet-cute, which started when he direct messaged her on Instagram during the pandemic saying he was an "Industry" fan.
"He was incredibly invested in me, and not in a creepy way - in a really sincere, curious way. And I was so struck by that," she said.
Grateful for the TV and film roles, Myha´la still holds out hope that one day she´ll make her Broadway debut. "The dream is not dead!" she said with a smile.