Myha’la Herrold on What Harper’s Hair Reveals About Industry Season 4

Summary

The Run-Through with Vogue

Episode: Myha’la Herrold on What Harper’s Hair Reveals About Industry Season 4
Date: January 6, 2026
Hosts: Marlee Marius (Vogue Senior Editor) & Hannah Jackson (Fashion Writer)
Guest: Myha’la Herrold (Actor, Industry)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Marlee Marius and Hannah Jackson sit down with Myha’la Herrold, the breakout star of HBO’s Industry, ahead of its fourth season. The conversation goes beyond the finance jargon of the show to explore Harper Stern’s evolving persona, the intentional style choices (notably Harper’s braids), how Myha’la approaches performance, her personal relationship with clothes and identity, and heartfelt moments from her personal life and career. The episode also covers her journey from theater kid to TV star, her thoughts on nostalgia TV, reality shows, and a poignant return to her Jamaican roots.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Returning for Season 4 of Industry

• Feeling Like Veterans

  • Myha’la reflects on returning for an unexpected fourth season. After three seasons under contract, she and her co-stars felt both mature and at home.
    • “It felt very much like coming home... I feel mature in myself, mature in my understanding of the show. I think that was true for all of us. We all felt like veterans.” (05:13–05:55)

• Where is Harper Now?

  • Harper is now running her own book at Otto Mostyn’s firm, wielding more autonomy and power but still clashing with managers.
    • “She’s the one making the decisions on whose money gets traded where, where they're putting the money towards... She has employees and she’s running things.” (06:20–07:21)

• The Messiness of Harper

  • The first scene filmed featured a “really, really, really long speech” with new character Kwabina, reflecting Harper’s stress and the start of the season’s “mess.”
    • “It is, like, the beginning of the mess of the season for Harper.” (07:30–08:00)

2. Deciphering Financial Jargon

• From ‘Finance for Dummies’ to Contextual Acting

  • Myha’la started off Googling finance terms but now focuses on emotional intent rather than understanding every technical aspect.
    • “Now a lot of the words, a lot of the jargon is really familiar... I stopped trying to understand what all the words meant a really long time ago. It’s just not beneficial to me. I just need to know whether I’m doing a good thing or a bad thing, or I’m mad about it.” (08:17–09:17)

• The Show's Approach

  • Writers respect the audience’s intelligence and don’t oversimplify or spoon-feed context.
    • “Mickey and Conrad don’t want to spoon feed the audience...they’re assuming the audience is going to keep up with us.” (09:47–10:02)

3. Harper’s Braids as Character Arc

• Intentional Styling

  • Myha’la’s decision to give Harper human hair micro braids in season 4 is symbolic of her power and self-actualization.
    • “It’s gotta be the micro braids with the human hair. It’s gotta be the most expensive, high maintenance, most difficult thing, and the most elevated version of Harper.” (10:28–11:14)

• Transitioning Into Her ‘Rich Girl’ Era

  • “She has more money than she’s ever had, the most autonomy she’s ever had, and the most strength she’s had.” (11:15–11:24)

4. Fashion as Identity

• Costume Designer Collaboration

  • Worked closely with Laura K. Smith for Harper’s power suits, including a custom three-piece suit.
    • “That first shot...that gray, I think it's three piece suit, is a custom designed and custom made suit by Laura for Harper.” (12:14–12:23)

• Personal Approach to Style

  • For Myha’la, dressing is an expression of her mood and identity.
    • “Whatever I choose to put on my body...is just an expression of how I’m feeling on the inside that day...when the outside’s really matching the inside, that’s when I feel the most confident.” (13:23–13:59)

• Rebellion & Inspiration

  • School uniforms were stifling; she used accessories and hair for self-expression—sometimes resulting in discipline.
    • “Anything I could—accessories, scarves, socks, tights, hair bands—whatever I could do to add a little flavor.” (14:24–14:47)
  • Style icon: her mother, who would create vision boards with Vogue cutouts and craft unique outfits. (14:50–15:46)

5. Personal Stories and Growth

• Met Gala "Clapback"

  • Wore custom thigh-high Timbs after years of desiring real Timberlands—her mother’s story about knock-offs became a memorable “fashion clapback.”
    • “So then at the Met, I wore my very first pair of Timbs...the craziest clapback of all time.” (15:54–16:44)

• Relationship Origins

  • Myha’la’s fiancé first DM’d her as a fan, leading to a Zoom interview and, quickly, love.
    • “I hopped on a Zoom...meant to be on for a few minutes, and like, 40 minutes goes by, and by the end I was like, so where are you from?” (21:01–22:27)
    • “I was starstruck and quite literally immediately in love.” (22:28–22:48)

6. Memorable Behind-the-Scenes Moments

• Co-star Marissa Abella’s Wedding
  • Myha'la describes being a bridesmaid at Marissa’s wedding—a “big love fest” with Industry cast and a choreographed flash-dance. (23:14–24:41)

7. Career Paths: From Theatre to TV

• Theater Roots

  • Carnegie Mellon alum, musical theater major, lifelong dream of Broadway (specifically Elle Woods in Legally Blonde). (26:50–28:44)
  • High school story about demanding a callback for Elle Woods:
    • “I will only audition for the whole year’s worth of shows if you give me a callback for Elle Woods.” (28:04–28:44)

• Unexpected TV Career

  • Never imagined herself in TV/film; theater was the original plan.

• Early Music Experiences

  • Was in a Christian rock band led by her principal; loves singing, especially musical theater. (28:51–29:47)

8. Millennial/Gen Z Nostalgia and Internet Culture

• Tumblr Era & Digital Youth
  • Maintained a blog as a teen that got discovered by a teacher, leading to forced deletion.
    • “I was expressing my sadness and self-loathing on my Tumblr...and they made me delete it. It was really messed up.” (30:23–31:15)

9. Connection to Heritage

• Trip to Jamaica
  • Describes her first emotional landing in Jamaica, connecting with her heritage and the landscape.
    • “I just felt really overcome with some emotion. It wasn’t like, I can say it was, oh, I was so happy to finally be here...I just felt really overwhelmed—like a piece of my ancestral chain had just been connected.” (32:56–34:44)

10. Pop Culture Preferences

• TV & Movie Rewatches

  • Enjoys nostalgic comfort movies and TV in the fall, like Twilight, Harry Potter, Cinderella Story, and re-watching Nurse Jackie.
    • “I need yearning.” (36:14–36:18)
    • On Edie Falco and Nurse Jackie: “A master.” (36:44–36:49)

• Reality TV

  • Recently into “the secret lives of Mormon wives”; opinions on Whitney and her DWTS/Broadway moves.
    • “Whitney’s, like, trying to get her bag, but it’s so obvious.” (37:05–37:19)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the finance jargon of Industry:

  • “I stopped trying to understand what all the words meant a really long time ago. It’s just not beneficial to me. I just need to know whether I’m doing a good thing or a bad thing.”
    – Myha’la Herrold (09:14–09:17)

• On Harper’s season 4 look:

  • “It’s gotta be the micro braids with the human hair. It’s gotta be the most expensive, probably the most high maintenance, the most difficult thing, and the most elevated version of Harper.”
    – Myha’la Herrold (11:02–11:14)

• On personal confidence and style:

  • “When the outside’s really matching the inside, that’s when I feel the most confident.”
    – Myha’la Herrold (13:48–13:59)

• On realizing a childhood dream at the Met Gala:

  • “At the Met, I wore my very first pair of Timbs. It was the craziest clapback of all time.”
    – Myha’la Herrold (16:34–16:46)

• On falling in love:

  • “I was the table. The tables had been turned and I was starstruck and quite literally immediately in love.”
    – Myha’la Herrold (22:28–22:48)

• On returning to Jamaica:

  • “I just felt really overcome with some emotion...like a piece of my ancestral chain had just been connected.”
    – Myha’la Herrold (33:21–34:44)

• On yearning and nostalgia:

  • “I need yearning.”
    – Myha’la Herrold (36:14–36:18)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [05:13] – Returning to Industry for Season 4: feeling like a veteran
• [06:20] – Harper’s new role and increased autonomy
• [08:17] – Approaching finance jargon and acting choices
• [10:28] – The meaning of Harper’s braids
• [12:14] – Custom power suits and working with costuming
• [13:23] – Dressing as self-expression
• [14:50] – Style inspiration from her mother
• [15:54] – Met Gala Timbs “clapback” story
• [21:01] – How Myha’la met her fiancé (fan DM to Zoom call)
• [23:14] – Marissa Abella’s wedding memories
• [26:50] – Carnegie Mellon and shifting from theater to TV
• [28:51] – Musical roots and desire for Broadway
• [30:23] – Tumblr era confessions
• [32:56] – Homecoming to Jamaica
• [35:37] – Favorite shows and nostalgia TV
• [37:05] – Reality TV commentary

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Conclusion

This candid conversation with Myha’la Herrold offers deep insight into her creative approach, personal values, and the intentional choices shaping both her career and her performance as Harper on Industry. It’s an engaging look at self-transformation, the power of representation, and the way art, family, and even digital nostalgia contribute to identity. Essential listening for fans of the show, and anyone who believes fashion and storytelling are inseparable.

Transcript

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[Marlee Marius]

This is the run through. I'm Marlee Marius, a senior editor at Vogue and I'm here with fashion writer Hannah Jackson. Hi Hannah.

[Hannah Jackson]

Hi Marley. So nice to join you here.

[Mahala Harold]

So nice to have you here.

[Marlee Marius]

Well, today we're going to be talking to someone that we're both obsessed with. Who is the incredible Mahala Harold who listeners watchers will know from the HBO series Industry, which is back for its fourth season on January 11. In it, Mahal plays Harper Stern. She's kind of like the young, lone American growing up through this. The sort of cutthroat world of British finance. And we're kind of following her along in sort of a new adventure this season.

[Hannah Jackson]

We were just talking before cameras were rolling about what really attracts us to industry. And it's like, you know, the prestige and the drama of succession and, like, the, you know, sex and drugs of euphoria.

[Marlee Marius]

So it's very.

[Hannah Jackson]

And they're not children, which is great.

[Marlee Marius]

It's so true. And I also feel like we are the age of these characters, kind of. So it's. And it began very much with them, with sort of recent college graduates just, like, entering a sort of training sort of program at your point at Pierpoint and co. A British sort of way. I'm trying to remember what the word is. Investment banking. Are they investment bankers?

[Podcast Host 1]

That's also.

[Hannah Jackson]

Honestly, the hell knows.

[Marlee Marius]

We don't know what they do.

[Hannah Jackson]

Maybe Mahala can clarify for us. We're such big fans, by the way.

[Marlee Marius]

Good thing about this show is that, like, no one actually knows what they're talking about at any time, but it's fine because they sell us on the drama that.

[Hannah Jackson]

Exactly. It's like. It's such an intuitive show in a way, where you can just follow the emotion.

[Marlee Marius]

Yeah.

[Hannah Jackson]

And it's kind of like Shakespeare, in a sense, where it's like, totally. You know, I get the gist of what you're saying. I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm following. I'm tracking. I can sense the.

[Podcast Host 1]

The.

[Hannah Jackson]

The beats.

[Marlee Marius]

Rich stuff. Rich text.

[Hannah Jackson]

Rich indeed.

[Marlee Marius]

Oh, my God.

[Hannah Jackson]

Her mind, folks.

[Marlee Marius]

But let's bigger in. Dare I say yes.

[Hannah Jackson]

Let's do it.

[Marlee Marius]

Okay. Welcome to Mahalo.

[Mahala Harold]

Hi, guys. Hi. How are you?

[Hannah Jackson]

How's it going? How much of that did you catch?

[Mahala Harold]

Enough.

[Hannah Jackson]

Us being just Marley and I just, like, laugh like we do at our desks.

[Mahala Harold]

All I heard was, are they investment bankers?

[Hannah Jackson]

Good.

[Mahala Harold]

No one really knows.

[Hannah Jackson]

Oh, okay.

[Marlee Marius]

Well.

[Mahala Harold]

And that's true.

[Hannah Jackson]

We'll get into that question.

[Podcast Host 1]

Okay, great.

[Hannah Jackson]

Well, Mahal, we're so excited to have you.

[Mahala Harold]

Congratulations. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you.

[Marlee Marius]

Oh, my God. We're so excited about this.

[Hannah Jackson]

Marlee and I have been juiced. Congratulations on season four of Industry.

[Mahala Harold]

Thank you.

[Hannah Jackson]

You've been playing Harper Stern for five years now. The show premiered in 2020, which, you know, what a different time.

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah.

[Hannah Jackson]

So can you tell us a little bit how it felt returning to set for season four?

[Mahala Harold]

Season four return felt very much like a triumph. We were. This is maybe inside baseball, but we were contracted for three seasons. And truly, you never know if you're gonna go again. It's always dependent on the audience and what the studio wants and whatever. So after three, we were all like, what's gonna happen? There's no guarantee. So getting picked up again and HBO being really excited about going again, and Bad Wolf being excited, and we were all really excited. It felt very much like coming home in a way that I was like, oh, now I'm. I'm not just like, coming home for spring break. Like, I feel mature in myself, mature in my understanding of the show. And I think that was true for all of us. We all felt like veterans.

[Marlee Marius]

Totally.

[Hannah Jackson]

No, it feels like that translates on screen as well this season.

[Mahala Harold]

That's amazing.

[Marlee Marius]

I was gonna say, because I feel like we're finding Harper really doing her own thing for the first time. And really, like, she's a boss lady, really, dare I say. I mean, you know, for lack of a better term, tell us a little bit about. About where we are finding Harper at the beginning of season four, kind of compared to where we were in season three.

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah, totally. I mean, the end of season three is very much her being like, I'm gonna be my own boss. This is the time when she, like, truly breaks away. She joins forces with Petra, which doesn't work out, but she's, like, doing her own thing. And now at the top of season four, we find her running her own book at Otto Mostyn's firm. She's like, running her own book, meaning she's the one making the decisions on whose money gets traded where and where they're putting the money towards and whatever and what trades they're chasing, et cetera. So she's like her own boss. She has employees and she's running things. And this is the first time she has truly had autonomy in that. However, the first scene we see her in is her arguing with one of Otto Mostyn's other employees, who's kind of like her manager, even though she wasn't supposed to have one of those. And she's like, stop managing me. I'm supposed to be running this book on my own. So of course she is at. But she's frustrated. Cause she's feeling like there's a lot of oversight, which she doesn't like being told what to do.

[Marlee Marius]

No, she doesn't. One thing that girl doesn't like.

[Mahala Harold]

Okay, 40.

[Hannah Jackson]

What was the first scene that you filmed on this season? Do you remember?

[Mahala Harold]

Yes, I do. Yes, I do. The first scene that I shot was with Taheeb, which is one of our new characters. He's playing Kwabina, and I was doing, like, a really, really, really long speech, like an angry long speech, and telling him, like, write my speech. And she's like, really, really stressed out, which is sort of the speech. And writing down of the speech. I'm not giving anything away. Is like the beginning of the mess of the season for Harper.

[Podcast Host 2]

The mess.

[Marlee Marius]

We love the mess.

[Hannah Jackson]

What a mess there is.

[Marlee Marius]

We love the mess.

[Hannah Jackson]

What is it like for you guys? Like, you know, finance jargon does not come naturally to me.

[Mahala Harold]

Sure.

[Hannah Jackson]

Do you already know a lot of these terms? Are you Googling? Like, how. How do you kind of, like, really? How much studying are you doing?

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah, I mean, the first season I was very much like, finance for dummies, like, Google. What the heck is this?

[Marlee Marius]

Yeah.

[Mahala Harold]

Now a lot of the words, a lot of the jargon is really familiar. So I'm not doing that. That much Googling. It's more like asking Mickey and Conrad. And also, like, we have. We have financial consultants who have been on the show asking them, like, okay, what is happening in this scenario? Like, I'm shorting this thing, but then that over there. Why is this connected? Whatever. And now that the show is, like, a little broader, like, branching into journalism and politics and, you know, that sort of thing, it's like, now a more. More like a social question than it is about, like, directly the finance. Yeah, but girl, no, I stopped trying to understand, like, what all the words meant a really long time ago. It's just like, this is not beneficial to me. It's actually stressful. I just need to know whether or not I'm doing a good thing or a bad thing or I'm, like, glad about the things happening to me or I'm mad about it. It's basically it.

[Marlee Marius]

I mean, to the cut of your performance. For dummies like us, we still, like, generally understand what's going on based on. Great your reacts.

[Mahala Harold]

Thank you so much. I'm doing my job.

[Marlee Marius]

We're interpreting. We're picking up context clues. But. And also, it's amazing because I feel like every time like, we. What you always hear is like, you know, people who are actually in that world are like, that show is very smart about what it's talking about. Like, this is not like, they're not like, gloss. They're not kind of like faking it. Like, it does actually stand up, if you know what that world.

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah. Mickey and Conrad don't want to spoon feed the audience. They're assuming that the audience is gonna keep up with us. And whether or not they are, in terms of the jargon, they're on board enough to continue watching the show.

[Hannah Jackson]

That's great. It's like, too many people treat their audiences like they're dumb and it ruins the quality of the show.

[Marlee Marius]

And yeah, it's also like, I actually don't need to be taught.

[Hannah Jackson]

Like, I can Google it if I'm so curious.

[Marlee Marius]

Yeah, totally.

[Mahala Harold]

Like, it's free. Google is free.

[Hannah Jackson]

It's my favorite phrase.

[Marlee Marius]

Something that you've spoken a little bit about is Harper's hairstyling being quite intentional in the show. And she's in braids. Like, what do the braids mean to you? Or what do you mean, what do.

[Mahala Harold]

The braids mean to me? Well, this time around, I asked Mickey and Conrad, our showrunners before we, our creators, writers, showrunners, executive producers are everything. Yeah. Asked them, okay, so, like, what. Where do we meet Harper and what is this season about? And they were like, this is like, Harper's revenge. She's at the top of her game, and she's going harder than she's ever gone before. And I was like, well, obviously it's gotta be the micro braids with the human hair. It's gotta be the most expensive, probably the most high maintenance, the most difficult thing, and the most elevated version of Harper. And I thought, I would like to see whatever version of Harper in season one, like, what does that girl's dream of herself, which I think is Harper, season four with the human hair, micro braids.

[Marlee Marius]

Because she's in her, like, rich girl era.

[Mahala Harold]

Totally. Yeah. She has more money than she's ever had, the most autonomy she's ever had, and the most strength she's had.

[Hannah Jackson]

I think that also really comes across in the fashion. And we see Harper wearing this. Like, there's a lot of power suiting in this season so far that we've seen. Could you tell us a little bit about working with Laura K. Smith on the costumes?

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah, totally. Laura's a g. We love Laura. She is so, so, so good at costuming this show. And this season, she too was like, okay, Harper's at the top of her game. What does that look like? What does power look like? And you said power suiting. And I, we always trade boards. Like, I was sending her pictures of Selene and ysl. And a bunch of stuff, but it was basically just shoulders, like all shoulder pads. And that was the thing that we sort of landed on. She said, okay, well, I'm gonna make you a custom suit.

[Marlee Marius]

Amazing.

[Mahala Harold]

That's got. Yeah. That first shot that we see Harper, that gray, I think it's three piece suit is a custom designed and custom made suit.

[Marlee Marius]

Amazing.

[Mahala Harold]

By Laura. For Harper. Yeah, it's really crazy. And she was like, I want this to be like the hero piece for her close and for her to be able to mix and match. So there's like this really beautiful sort of Japanese inspired top. It's got like a sort of high neck and pleating and then there's a skirt, but there's also trousers and then there's two different styles of the suit jacket. One that's double breasted with like the most tailoring you've ever seen in your life. It's like within an inch of my life. And then one that's single breasted. So yeah, throughout the season you'll see different pieces of that suit reimagined for different looks.

[Marlee Marius]

So cool. Love.

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah.

[Hannah Jackson]

I love when costume designers, like, actually consider how these things will be worn, you know?

[Mahala Harold]

Totally.

[Hannah Jackson]

I think so often it's like, okay, you're just seeing one outfit and you'll never see it again.

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah, that's not how people live. No, it's not.

[Hannah Jackson]

What, you know, we've talked about what, what makes Harper feel good in terms of her clothes. What makes you feel like your best self?

[Mahala Harold]

Oh, boy. I. I have always been passionate about dressing and getting dressed because I think whatever I choose to put on my body in any given day is like just an expression of how I'm feeling on the inside that day. And the beautiful thing about that is that it changes all the time. And because different kinds of clothes exist, that's why I love playing with them. I can express different parts of myself, different versions of myself. And when I get it really right, when I'm like, the outside's really matching the inside, that's when I feel the most confident. So, like, school uniforms are really hard for me.

[Marlee Marius]

Interesting. How did you, like, mess it up?

[Mahala Harold]

I mean, I just got sent home all the time. I just got dress coded constantly. But I would like flip a collar or I would always do something interesting with my hair. And because I am black and was in a predominantly white neighborhood where my school was, whenever I did something with my hair, teachers or whoever, the dean would be like, my hell, your hair is. And I'd be like, ah, Ah. Ah.

[Hannah Jackson]

Careful.

[Mahala Harold]

Tread lightly. This could be a race thing.

[Marlee Marius]

Shut them right up.

[Mahala Harold]

Leave me alone. And they were, like, close. And I was like, yeah, yeah, fuck it is. But, yeah, anything I could. Accessories, scarves, socks, tights, hair bands. Like, whatever I could do to add a little flavor. Because I really, really didn't like being confined to a uniform.

[Marlee Marius]

Did you have style icons growing up?

[Mahala Harold]

My mother has literally always been my style icon. She has, like. She's the one who's still got, like, boards that she's created that has cutouts from Vogue to, like, give her style inspiration. And then she'd be like, I'm gonna build this outfit based on these. She, like, really still has.

[Marlee Marius]

Really strategic.

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah, totally. And she's really creative herself, so she loves to make stuff. She'll be like, kind of recently, we were on vacation. She was like, do you recognize this? And her friend had a scarf around her head. And it was this fabric that my mom found in a fabric store just when I was looking for something. And she was like, I love this fabric. I don't know what I'm gonna do with it. But she bought, like, the whole roll. But the fabric is like five different colors, and it's got. There's, like, so much texture. It's got silk, but it's also got knits. It's got things hanging off. It feels embroidered. It's like, kind of.

[Marlee Marius]

That's amazing.

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah, it's really insane. So she's always been my style icon. Cause she's really crafty, and she really loves, like, vintage and thrifting and, you know, building an outfit from scratch.

[Hannah Jackson]

I remember talking to you right before your first MET gala in May, and you told a really great story about your mom and a pair of Timberland boots.

[Mahala Harold]

Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. I hope I get the story right. Cause I had to. I remember telling that story. And she was like, that's not exactly how that went. And I was like, sorry. But I think the way I remember the story is that I really wanted Timbs because they're the coolest shoe. And she was like, oh, I found these that were like a Tim's knockoff at like a. Like a Goodwill or something. And she was like, these are them. They're like, exactly the same shoe. And I was like, how dare you try to put me in these knockoff tips? I was like, 10 with no money. Like, you know, no leg to stand on. But yeah. So then at the Met, I wore my very first pair of Timbs.

[Marlee Marius]

Wow.

[Hannah Jackson]

Custom Timbs Thigh high mouret pump with a Loire mini dress.

[Marlee Marius]

She got her timbs already.

[Mahala Harold]

It was the craziest clapback of all time.

[Hannah Jackson]

Was it worth the wait?

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah, totally 100% worth the wait.

[Podcast Host 1]

The run through will be back in a moment.

[Mahala Harold]

Hi, I'm Rebecca Ford, senior awards correspondent.

[Podcast Host 1]

At Vanity Fair and co host of Little Gold Men.

[Mahala Harold]

Oscar season is upon us. Little Gold Men takes you behind the scenes of the race for the biggest prize in Hollywood.

[Marlee Marius]

There's 100 wrestlers in the room, but.

[Mahala Harold]

Only one can be Oscar nominated.

[Podcast Host 1]

Whether you're a movie lover or an industry buff, Little Gold Men from Vanity Fair has everything you need to to.

[Mahala Harold]

Know about this year's Oscar race.

[Podcast Host 1]

Follow and listen to Little Gold Men.

[Mahala Harold]

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[Hannah Jackson]

Stop by a Warby Parker store near you.

[Podcast Host 2]

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[Marlee Marius]

We also wanted to, well, sort of quickly talk about another of our sort of favorite past projects of yours for us, which was Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. Which also, like, I mean, I think at the time we were like, okay, this cast is very cool. But now especially, it's like everyone in that show was. Everyone in that movie is a star. Like, chase me wonders, ra you obviously. And the director, you know, who did.

[Hannah Jackson]

Baby girl.

[Marlee Marius]

Baby girl. Thank you. So, like, what a moment. And I remember seeing that in theaters and being like, obviously this rocks. Even though I'm not a horror movie person. You're not a horror movie person?

[Mahala Harold]

No, not at all. Such a scaredy cat.

[Hannah Jackson]

Scary.

[Marlee Marius]

Did you watch it back and find that scary?

[Mahala Harold]

Not as much. I was still like, jump scared every time and like, I had to watch it multiple times. And I still was like, oh, oh my God. I forgot that I filmed that. You know what I mean? No. I'm a sucker. I'm a sucker for a jump scare. I really. I just can't. My heart can't take it. I can't.

[Hannah Jackson]

Despite hating horror, you filmed another horror called they Will Kill youl?

[Podcast Host 2]

I did.

[Hannah Jackson]

What can you tell us about what.

[Mahala Harold]

We can expect this one? I think this is like, not terribly dissimilar to bodies. It's kind of a genre exploring, piece of film. Piece of film. I really. I really think this, like, the visual language of this movie is really interesting. Kirill Sokolov, our director, he is just cool. Like, he's just really cool. He's Russian and cool. I was watching the, like, bits and pieces of the movie. I've actually not even seen it, but it feels like I'm watching a video game. Like the way the lenses he used and the way he moves the camera around is just really cool. There are some shockingly beautiful practical effects in the film. I don't want to give anything away, but it's really cool and a really stellar cast. It's funnier than I thought it was going to be. So it's not your typical. It's not your typical, like horror slasher, scary movie. And it does have plot, so, yeah, I hope people enjoy it. I was really surprised by it. I think it's going to be a fun watch.

[Marlee Marius]

Totally.

[Hannah Jackson]

Will you tell us when it comes out?

[Mahala Harold]

March 27th. March 27th is coming.

[Hannah Jackson]

Oh, my God. Exciting. In other exciting news, you're engaged.

[Mahala Harold]

Hell yeah.

[Hannah Jackson]

Congratulations.

[Mahala Harold]

Thank you.

[Hannah Jackson]

You guys have a very cute meet cute. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah, yeah. The abridged version, the bridge, is that I am marrying my biggest fan around the watch, as it should be. Yeah, it really should be.

[Hannah Jackson]

I look for fanboys everywhere.

[Mahala Harold]

Okay, listen, it works out. It worked for me. It could work for you. He watched industry and he sent myself and a couple other people on the show just a really normal, nice message. Like, congrats, I love this show. Whatever. I hope you have a nice life. It was just a very normal, nice message. And I said, thank you. And then the next morning, I woke up to a string of video messages and I was like, ah, shit, he's a creep. But obviously my curiosity was sparked and I opened the messages and it was him recording himself. And he was like, hey, my holla, it's Armando. I just wanted to say it was so cool of you to respond to my message. I wasn't expecting that. Again, I wanted to say congratulations on the show. I think it's really wonderful. Now that I'm out of your request, I thought I would just ask. Mind you, videotaping himself.

[Marlee Marius]

Wow.

[Mahala Harold]

Which, like, I would never. I would never do that. I'm, like, way too shy. You know what I mean? He was like, if you've got five, 10 minutes, I'm doing a project for my journalism course. I would love to interview you. And I was like, I can't very well say no to a child who's educated themselves as a student of life. And so I hopped on a Zoom the next day, and we were meant to be on for a few minutes and like, 40 minutes goes by, and by the end of it, I was like, so where are you from? Oh, my God.

[Hannah Jackson]

Turning the table off.

[Mahala Harold]

I was the table. The tables had been turned and I was starstruck and quite literally immediately in love. And we found. I just kept finding, like, stupid ways to reach out. I think, like, less than a week later, I was like, did you get an A on your project? Like, I was really yearning. And in January, it will be five years later.

[Marlee Marius]

Wow. How dear.

[Hannah Jackson]

I would just like to say that none of my J school projects ever ended in marriage, so I feel like I've been cheated out of my education.

[Mahala Harold]

Keep trying. Check your DMs. Check your requests.

[Hannah Jackson]

They're not.

[Mahala Harold]

Good girl.

[Hannah Jackson]

Well, speaking of marriage, your co star Marissa Abella recently got married, which is so exciting. And you were in the wedding. As a bridesmaid, can you tell us a little bit about the day?

[Mahala Harold]

It was amazing. I mean, Marisa is truly like, a force of nature. And she was running that ship like the Navy. I mean, she had it down to a T. Everything was perfect. They had been legally married a week before. It was a very intimate ceremony with her family, so they could get all the gushy stuff out. You know, they could do. Do the wedding the way they wanted to do it. And then they had the, like, sort of big celebration with everyone. And, yeah, it was just awesome. Like, a day full of so much love. And it was so beautiful.

[Podcast Host 2]

We were in the set.

[Marlee Marius]

The setting seemed insane.

[Mahala Harold]

It was ridiculous. I walked in and I was like, am I on the set of Industry?

[Hannah Jackson]

Literally. This place is beautiful.

[Mahala Harold]

But it was like a sort of estate manner y thing, like somewhere in the countryside, like, not terribly far from where she grew up in Brighton.

[Marlee Marius]

Sweet. Sweet.

[Mahala Harold]

And I have been lucky to meet and get to know some of her friends and of course, so many people from the Industry cast Mickey Conrad and Connor McNeal were all there, and it was just like a really big love fest. And they were so happy. And her now husband Jamie is also a musical theater fan.

[Marlee Marius]

Really?

[Mahala Harold]

And they did. He's into everything. I mean, he's done a bunch of stuff on the West End, but they did like a. Like a choreographed sort of flash dance feeling sort of thing on the dance floor, like at the end of their wedding. And they had choreography. It was. He was like in his bag.

[Hannah Jackson]

What song?

[Mahala Harold]

Oh, I feel like it was something like I Did It My Way. Sinatra. Yes.

[Marlee Marius]

A gorgeous song. A gorgeous.

[Hannah Jackson]

That's like the best song ever.

[Marlee Marius]

Yeah.

[Mahala Harold]

Yep.

[Hannah Jackson]

How sweet.

[Mahala Harold]

Really iconic.

[Hannah Jackson]

Oh, my God.

[Podcast Host 1]

Wow.

[Hannah Jackson]

And you were a really fab bridesmaid's dress.

[Mahala Harold]

I know. It's very funky. Yeah. So many people have. I didn't know that it was like a thing. Maybe it's a thing in England for the bridesmaids to all be in white. Oh, I didn't know that that was a thing, but it is. And it's so chic. I mean, would you do that for your own. Would I do that? Yeah. I don't know if I want to do like a wedding party or anything, because I wouldn't. I would be like, what about the. And then it'll be like 20 and it's too much. You know what I mean? To be fair, I kind of. I want somebody else to do the planning. I don't want to do. I don't want to have to be involved. Sounds a lot of work. It's just like so much work.

[Marlee Marius]

And I'm.

[Mahala Harold]

I'm like exhausted just by the thought of. Honestly, by the front of this.

[Hannah Jackson]

It's a full time job.

[Mahala Harold]

Sometime when I have, like, one day, I'm just gonna be like, it's time for the wedding. Like, I'm just. You know what I mean? I'm like, ready to go.

[Marlee Marius]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 1]

The run through will be back in just a moment.

[Marlee Marius]

You come to the New Yorker Radio Hour for conversations that go deeper with people you really want to hear from, whether it's Bruce Springsteen or Questlove or Olivia Rodrigo, Liz Cheney or the godfather of Artificial intelligence, Geoffrey Hinton, or some.

[Mahala Harold]

Of my extraordinarily well informed colleagues at the New Yorker.

[Marlee Marius]

So join us every week on the New Yorker Radio Hour wherever you listen to podcasts. I was astonished to learn you underlined to learn that you started on industry or got the offer of industry, like, pretty soon after leaving Carnegie Mellon. Is that right? Obviously. That's a really Creative school. And it has given us a lot of, like, amazing actors and performers. But, like, who were kind of the people that you were looking at, thinking about, you know, watching, who were kind of beginning to inform who you kind of wanted to be as an actor at that time?

[Mahala Harold]

Hmm. I don't know that there were specific people that I was watching that I was like, oh, that's the thing I want to do. Especially, like, any of those people that I have admired as a young person are not the people who, like, informed my current work, because I'd never, ever imagined myself on TV and film ever, really. Did you run any theater? Yeah, yeah, no, I'm a. Well, here I am. I'm coming out. I'm a theater kid. Well, I'm coming out of my musical theater closet. I was a musical theater major. My dream was always to go to Broadway.

[Marlee Marius]

What was like, your dream role was?

[Mahala Harold]

Still is. I would love to play Elle Woods.

[Marlee Marius]

Oh, hell, yeah.

[Mahala Harold]

In Legally Blonde.

[Hannah Jackson]

Oh, okay.

[Marlee Marius]

Well.

[Mahala Harold]

And this will tell you everything about it?

[Marlee Marius]

Oh, my God. Honestly, it does.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[Mahala Harold]

I actually. I was in Legally Blonde in a high school production of Legally Blonde. And I, like. I did all the shows, and I had a very special relationship with my acting teachers because they just, like, knew I was a pain in the ass. But I went up to one of them and was like, I'm not auditioning for Legally Blonde. And they were like, come on now.

[Podcast Host 1]

Yes, you are.

[Mahala Harold]

And I said, I'm not. And they were like, why not? And I said, because I know you're not gonna give me Elle Woods.

[Podcast Host 2]

Wow.

[Mahala Harold]

And they were like, wow. And I said, I will only audition for the whole year's worth of shows if you give me a callback for Elle Woods.

[Hannah Jackson]

Oh, my God, girl.

[Marlee Marius]

I knew what she wanted.

[Mahala Harold]

Blackmailing, like, bribing my acting teachers, and they were like, okay. And I did a callback, and I sang the Boots How Down. I sang that song crazy. I said, I am so much better. And then I didn't get it, obviously. Well, I was never gonna get it. I was. Wait for me. I was that girl. I was like, one of her. Whatever. It didn't matter. But that I. I did the whole. The whole season of shows. I did all the other ones, but I was determined to let them know that, like, I was born to play Elga.

[Marlee Marius]

Wow. You're like, I'm offer only, by the way.

[Mahala Harold]

Offer only.

[Marlee Marius]

Oh, my God.

[Hannah Jackson]

Maihala, when you were a teenager, you were in a Christian rock band called Exodus.

[Mahala Harold]

Hell, yeah, I was.

[Hannah Jackson]

Great name.

[Mahala Harold]

I mean, Heck, yeah, I was.

[Hannah Jackson]

Which was led by your principal. Is that true?

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah.

[Hannah Jackson]

So you clearly have a wide breadth of musical experiences. What is your favorite thing to sing Now?

[Mahala Harold]

Now?

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[Mahala Harold]

What am I singing now? I mean, I'm singing everything all the time. I love to sing at home. I wish I could sing more often in like a professional setting or just with other people. Like, I really miss singing with other people. Every once in a while I'll do like a workshop or something in New York, which is super fun, but I really do miss community when you sing. I mean, singing at home by myself is also fine, but it's not the same. But I sing everything. But my favorite genre is definitely musical theater. If anyone is looking for a five foot one available black baddie who lives in New York cast.

[Marlee Marius]

Mahala.

[Hannah Jackson]

Listen, when you're ready, Elle woods comes to fruition.

[Mahala Harold]

We're gonna listen.

[Hannah Jackson]

We're gonna repromote that.

[Mahala Harold]

I'm manifesting.

[Hannah Jackson]

We are too.

[Marlee Marius]

We also wanted to ask you about your Tumblr eras.

[Hannah Jackson]

We're like, christian rock was not enough. We have to dig deeper.

[Mahala Harold]

Oh, my God, you guys are exposing my skeleton.

[Hannah Jackson]

We have great researchers also.

[Mahala Harold]

This is.

[Marlee Marius]

But it's just such a millennials and zillennial group chat here that. So wait, you had one and your teachers found it and you got in trouble?

[Mahala Harold]

You know, what's the gag? Yeah, it was my principal band teacher who was the one scrolling through my Tumblr being like, how did he find it? That was. Well, somebody else. It was brought to their attention and I think they brought him in because we were, you know, it was my band teacher and we were kind of close. Whatever. But how embarrassing is it when you are a teenager. No, With a Tumblr. You know where this is going?

[Marlee Marius]

Oh, sure.

[Mahala Harold]

Come on, girl. The stuff that we had on Tumblr. Tumblr was not the stuff our parents were. As a. As a very, like, different kid to all the kids around me, I felt pretty sad a lot of the time. So I was expressing my sadness and self loathing on my Tumblr, you know, grotesque stuff on there. And they were like, this is pretty intense. And I was like, I'm a kid. Look, I'm a tortured kid. What do you want from me? And they made me delete it. And it was really messed up. Like right there in front of them was horrible.

[Hannah Jackson]

What's that line from the Virgin suicides like? Well, doctor, you've never been a 13 year old.

[Marlee Marius]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Mahala Harold]

It's so that. It was so that.

[Marlee Marius]

Because so your Tumblr vibe was more like. Because I. Like, there were like the ones that people were treating them properly, like blogs and like, writing their thoughts, and then there were ones that were just.

[Mahala Harold]

It was just aesthetic. It was like, like Britney Panda wannabe bruised close ups of a body.

[Marlee Marius]

Oh, for sure.

[Mahala Harold]

You know what I mean? Like just the. The like wisp of. Yes, yes. A wispy wrist in, like. It was. It was paramore, you know, like, I'm.

[Marlee Marius]

Playing in the background.

[Mahala Harold]

It was all of that.

[Hannah Jackson]

Did you code it? So you had like music playing and stuff? Some people were really like, on their girls who code shit, you know.

[Mahala Harold]

Was definitely not that smart.

[Podcast Host 2]

No.

[Mahala Harold]

But there was music somewhere in there.

[Hannah Jackson]

Yeah.

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah. It was rough. And then a little bit of poetry. Every once in a while I would get my poetry bag and be like.

[Hannah Jackson]

You would write it.

[Mahala Harold]

School was hard today and that's life.

[Marlee Marius]

We were stalking you on TikTok and.

[Hannah Jackson]

Watering.

[Mahala Harold]

Oh, my God.

[Hannah Jackson]

Nightmare scenario.

[Marlee Marius]

Yeah. I'm like, don't you love a sentence that begins that way?

[Mahala Harold]

Oh, my God.

[Marlee Marius]

One that we were struck by and quite moved by was from you landing in Jamaica and having like a really sort of like, powerful emotional reaction. I'm curious about that in part because, like, I have Jamaican relatives myself and I don't think I've actually been like. I think I learned how to. To walk there, like, as a child, but haven't been back since. And I do kind of feel like I could imagine having that kind of moment. But anyway, can you sort of describe what that sort of was for you?

[Mahala Harold]

I mean, I don't know that there are, like, words for it, which is probably why I was in tears. But I. We were landing. I've never been. That's where my father and his side of the family is from. I've never been. We had. My mom and I have been talking my whole life about going and this was her birthday trip that we had to postpone, unfortunately, because I was working. It turned out fine because December is like prime time to go and we were escaping a little winter, so it was cool. But we're sort of. We're landing and I mean, it is such a beautiful place, like, period, point blank. It's just stunning. You can see, like, the reefs as you, like, come from the ocean, like over the island. It's just beautiful. And I was like, filming as we were landing and I was just like, this place is so cool. And I just felt really overcome with some emotion. It wasn't like, I can say it was, oh, I was so happy to finally be here, or I just felt really overwhelmed. Like, a piece of my ancestral chain had just been connected. And whether or not I ever go back, it's just like, oh, this is a cool thing that I get to do and be in a place I've never been where I have ancestry. And I just felt really moved. And then also, our flight crew was just, like, really sweet. And there were volunteers on our plane who were coming at their own expense to help rebuild Montego Bay because it had been hit so devastatingly by the hurricane. And so she was saying, like, this really nice thing, like. Cause she was from Jamaica as well. She was saying, we're so grateful that you're here to help us rebuild. And it was just like, an emotional nice thing. And then they played that song, which.

[Hannah Jackson]

Is actually the funniest thing I've ever.

[Mahala Harold]

Heard in my life. I guess this is a thing. I don't know. But, like, Jamaicans love to remix, like, popular songs and make them their own and, like, do patois over them. But it was just like, don't you want to live in Jamaica? And I was like, this is so.

[Hannah Jackson]

But I'm already crying.

[Marlee Marius]

You know what I mean?

[Mahala Harold]

So it's, like, funny. And I'm crying, and I can't stop crying, but I'm laughing. The whole thing was just kind of, like, shots from all angles, and I was conveniently already filming the landing.

[Podcast Host 2]

Yeah.

[Mahala Harold]

It was like, I don't want to miss this moment. Oh, my God. I wasn't really expecting to end up, like, on the Jamaica Observer.

[Marlee Marius]

Oh, look.

[Hannah Jackson]

It happens to the best of us.

[Marlee Marius]

Honestly, I'm like, it's the sort of tourism. I'm sure they meet. They're like, okay, we can also have an amazing emotional experience going to this beautiful place.

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah, Everybody really does want to live in Jamaica. The song was not lying.

[Marlee Marius]

When you're, like, sitting down to, like, watch a movie, what are you, like, picking out?

[Mahala Harold]

I'm a big TV nerd. Like, I really like to watch tv, but what am I re watching? Girl? It's fall, and I'm watching Twilight. Oh, my God. I'm watching the Twilight Saga.

[Hannah Jackson]

It's timeless.

[Mahala Harold]

I'm also watching Harry Potter. Harry Potter. From the beginning to the end. It's that time of year. Tis the season. I also been really getting into, like, an early to mid. This is, like, mid 2010s into, like, the 2015ish. Like, I don't know, feel good movies like. Like Cinderella story. Oh, interesting.

[Podcast Host 1]

Diaries. Nostalgia.

[Mahala Harold]

Babe. Nostalgia. Nostalgia.

[Marlee Marius]

Absolutely.

[Mahala Harold]

I need yearning.

[Marlee Marius]

Oh, we love yearning.

[Mahala Harold]

I need it.

[Marlee Marius]

I feel like we talk about your name at the office for some reason. I feel like we do. Anyway, we talk about how we love it.

[Hannah Jackson]

We love to yearn. It's just a bunch of, like, yearning. It's a lot of sad nerds.

[Mahala Harold]

Oh, my God. We bring it back. We need more of it.

[Marlee Marius]

Honestly. What TV shows are you into then if you're still.

[Mahala Harold]

I know. I just started watching True Blood. I'd never seen it before, and I'm just nearly finished with my second watch of Nurse Jackie.

[Marlee Marius]

Oh, nice.

[Mahala Harold]

Yeah. Nurse Jackie is prime television.

[Marlee Marius]

Oh, we love Edie Falcom.

[Mahala Harold]

There is nothing better than Nurse Jackie the show. And Edie Falco is unbelievable. A master. Yeah, yeah. So those two shows are like, what I'm on at the moment. I also love reality tv.

[Hannah Jackson]

Ooh, Say more, say more.

[Mahala Harold]

I just kind of recently got into the secret lives of Mormon wives.

[Hannah Jackson]

Oh, my God. What do you think of Whitney? I feel like she's a really. You know, people are split on her.

[Mahala Harold]

I'm kind of like, whatever about Whitney. Whitney's, like, trying to get her bag, but it's so obvious.

[Hannah Jackson]

Yeah.

[Mahala Harold]

Which I'm like.

[Hannah Jackson]

She just kind of crushed on Dancing with the Stars.

[Mahala Harold]

Was she?

[Podcast Host 2]

Yes.

[Mahala Harold]

I didn't want. I don't want. Now she's on.

[Hannah Jackson]

She's performing as Roxie Hart in Chicago.

[Marlee Marius]

Bring it right back to Broadway.

[Mahala Harold]

Go, off girl. Congratulations. That's really great.

[Hannah Jackson]

My hala. Thank you so much for coming on the show.

[Mahala Harold]

Thank you so much fun. It was really fun. Thank you for having me.

[Podcast Host 1]

The run through is produced by chelsea daniel, alex depalma and stephanie kariuki. It's engineered by pran bandy and james yost. It is mixed by mike kutchman.

[Mahala Harold]

From prx.