AP Breakthrough Entertainer: Myha’la doesn't take being #1 on the call sheet for granted

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.

For more on AP’s 2024 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, visit https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers

Myha'la poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. Myha'la has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

This combination of photos shows AP's 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha'la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)

This combination of photos shows AP's 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha'la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)

Myha'la poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. Myha'la has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Myha'la poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. Myha'la has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Myha'la poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. Myha'la has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Myha'la poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. Myha'la has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Myha'la poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. Myha'la has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

Myha'la poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. Myha'la has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Woody Allen 's former personal chef claims in a lawsuit that the filmmaker and his wife fired him because of his service in the U.S. Army Reserves and questions about his pay, then “rubbed salt on the wounds” by saying they didn't like his cooking.

Allen and Soon-Yi Previn “simply decided that a military professional who wanted to be paid fairly was not a good fit to work in the Allen home,” private chef Hermie Fajardo said in a civil complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan.

Allen and Previn knew Fajardo would need time off for military training exercises when they and their home manager hired him as their full-time chef in June 2024 at an annual salary of $85,000, the complaint said. But he was fired the following month, soon after returning from a training that lasted a day longer than expected, it said.

When Fajardo returned to work, “he was immediately met with instant hostility and obvious resentment by defendants,” according to the lengthy complaint.

At the time, Fajardo had been raising concerns about his pay — first that his employers weren't properly withholding taxes or providing a paystub, then that they shortchanged him by $300, according to the complaint.

Allen, Previn and manager Pamela Steigmeyer are accused in the lawsuit of violating the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and New York labor law, as well as causing Fajardo humiliation, stress and a loss of earnings.

Representatives for Allen did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Fajardo said he was hired after being showered with compliments following a meal of roasted chicken, pasta, chocolate cake and apple pie he prepared for the defendants and two guests. According to the complaint, it was only after Previn fired him and he hired a lawyer that he was told his cooking was not up to par, a claim Fajardo said was untrue.

FILE - Filmmaker Woody Allen, right, and Soon-Yi Previn arrive for an event in Cannes, southern France, May 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)