Harry Lawtey on INDUSTRY Season Finale and Acting with Joaquin Phoenix & Lady Gaga in JOKER for BUSTLE Magazine

Pin

BUSTLE released a new interview with Harry Lawtey, following the season finale of the show INDUSTRY.
In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview, the JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX actor discusses everything from filming the heart wrenching dinner table scene, why the internet is so turned on by Sad Boy Energy, and working with Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix.

Pin

Pin

On the first impression of his Industry character Robert, and his emotional core: My initial impression when I first read him was that he was a bit of a sleaze and very arrogant and kind of annoying…It became a mission to try and make Robert’s heart visible in every scene. Ultimately he is a good person who’s doing his best and making ill-judged choices.

On how Robert was originally supposed to be the more dominant: Oh, I didn’t know that. I suppose in the original script, the sub-dom dynamic of their chemistry was probably more equitable. It probably has more to do with the fact that — for good or bad — they ended up with me playing [Robert]. There are significant pieces of all of us in the work, and I think that very much informed that dynamic with Yasmin and her wearing the trousers.

On Robert and Yasmin’s turn in the season finale: They are two ill-suited people that love each other…I do believe there’s a world in which that works and they could be very happy, but that’s just not the world that they live in.

On why the internet is so turned on by Sad Boy Energy: I have no idea. I try not to really engage. One of my friends is watching the show weekly and routinely goes on Twitter afterwards and sends me his favorite memes, which I’m far from delighted about. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s that Robert’s the least robotic of the characters.

On the dinner table finale scene at Henry’s estate: The moment at the dinner table, where everyone disappears, is one I’m particularly proud of….I asked [co-creators] Mickey [Down] and Konrad [Kay], “Would it be OK if all the other cast were not in the room for those? So it could feel like me and Marisa have this stillness that we can make the most of?”…There are a few throw-some-dice moments in this season that were stylistic departures from what we’ve done before. But it genuinely came out of me and Marisa trying to ask for something that would logistically help us with the performance.

On if Robert thinks Yasmin is really in love with him: When we did the scene on the bench outside, the intimate scene, someone asked me, “Does she know what she’s going to do at that point?” All I can speak for is Robert, and in that moment, he thinks: This is it. It’s happening. We’re happening. I don’t think he would’ve [had sex with her] if he didn’t believe that.

On some of the most memorable parts of filming Joker: Folie à Deux: It was a treasure trove. Seeing Lady Gaga sing — that’s pretty iconic. And the first time I ever saw Joaquin was in a scene where he was walking into the room. The [footage] we were going for was essentially my reaction to him walking in. So when we rolled cameras for the first time on my face, that was the first time I ever saw Joaquin in the flesh. It was utterly surreal.

On if he drew from past iterations of the Harvey Dent: There’s a lovely heritage to these characters that is almost Shakespearean. There is something of a Hamlet or a Macbeth in Joker in the sense that these are very complex characters that you are given license to inherit and take in the direction you wish.

On the Joker fandom: I think a lot of people worry about the toxicity around the genre and the sort of possessiveness of fandom. But in actual fact, the source material is almost anti-possessive.

Photographs by Rosaline Shahnavaz
Grooming/Hair: Charlie Cullen

[Photo Credit: Rosaline Shahnavaz for BUSTLE Magazine]

• Bustle
• Editorials
• Harry Lawtey
• Magazines