Myha'la Herrold is Caught Red-Handed
The 'Industry' star on show tunes, doom scrolling, and her comfort watch.
By Emma Sharpe
Published
Caught Red-Handed is an interview series that begs the questions: What do cool people actually consume? What are their digital vices and indulgences?
When HBO’s Industry quietly entered the scene in November of 2020, it didn’t get the immediate Game Of Thrones treatment I hoped it would. I was in my girlboss era, and Industry’s Euphoria-zation of entry-level corporate machinations helped me glamorize my 9-to-9.
“Guys, an intern literally dies in the pilot from grinding too hard,” I’d gush to my Brooklyn artist friends, who’d nod politely.
About halfway through the season, I perused the Instagram page of its star Myha’la Herrold, who played the Machiavellian protagonist Harper Stern, a scrappy American upstart charting her course at London’s prestigious Pierpoint & Co. investment bank.
Her profile seemed remarkably normal for someone headlining a show on the same network as Succession and The Wire. It was almost too accessible like I had looked up a cast member from my college’s production of Little Shop to see if we had any mutuals. (Other people must have thought so, too — Myha’la met her boyfriend through an optimistic IG DM around this time).
While it was overwhelmingly evident that Myha’la, who had barely graduated from Carnegie Mellon before booking Industry, was going to have the type of career cited by eager Tisch freshmen for years to come, for a funny, fleeting moment, it was like the rest of the world hadn’t caught on yet. She could probably still buy Hold the Cones from Trader Joe’s without being asked for a selfie in the freezer aisle.
Of course, that recognition quickly careened into focus like a derailed train in a Michael Bay movie. Getting tapped for Gen Z’s response to Scream, to the delight of A24 nerds everywhere? Check. Gracing the cover of Teen Vogue’s New Hollywood issue? Check. Dominating the screen opposite industry vets Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali? Duh.
Today, Myha’la joins us as one of the glowing faces of Colgate’s new "My Smile is My Superpower" campaign, inclusive of a brand music video, that encourages young people to embrace the beauty of gaps and imperfections. In the spirit of that authenticity, for this month’s Caught Red-Handed, we chat with Myha’la about addictive iPhone games, fashion faux pas, and the Broadway cast albums she’ll happily queue up for you on Spotify.