Industry’s Miriam Petche Has Thoughts on Whether Yasmin Should Have Ended up with Robert

I can't imagine growing up with a name like Sweetpea, but you embody it well.

Industry has taken some really big swings in the three seasons it's been on television, but maybe one of the biggest has been naming a character Sweetpea Golightly. Yes, that's Sweetpea, as in the nickname, and Golightly, as in Audrey Hepburn's last name in Breakfast at Tiffany's. And a character with a name so iconic was bound to be a fan favorite. Since episode 1, the Bottega-carrying, ring-light using corporate baddie Sweetpea, played by Miriam Petche, has been the only relatively well-adjusted person to grace the screen. And she's also one of the only people to make it through the season finale relatively unscathed.

Miriam hopped on Zoom to answer all my burning questions about the finale, including where she lands on the Yasmin/Rob/Henry love triangle and how she feels about her character predicting the fall of Pierpoint. But first...

...A quick rundown of where everyone ends the season (with major spoilers, obviously):

Harper - After losing out on boatloads of cash during the Pierpoint deal, she and Petra resolve to work together more transparently. But at the end of the episode, Harper approaches Otto Mostyn about starting a borderline-illegal fund, with his backing. So, it looks like she and Petra won't be working together for long!

Yasmin - Yasmin gets fired from Pierpoint. While on a roadtrip with Rob, she seems to realize that while she's in love with him, he can't protect her from everything out in the world. She uses information from Maxim to get out of the being the scapegoat for her father. In a visit to Henry's house, she has sex with Rob, tells him she loves him, but then decides to marry Henry instead. It's devastating!

Rob - Rob's mushroom trip seems to have taken him to some sort of higher ground, because he's chasing a job with a magic mushroom company, which would mean he'd have to relocate to Silicon Valley. Yasmin gets engaged to Henry, and Rob leaves her at Henry's uncle's manor, but not before they exchange the saddest goodbye look of all time. In his final scene, Rob is courting investors for the previously mentioned mushroom company, and, most importantly, rocking a new hairstyle while doing it.

Eric - After orchestrating the deal that saved Pierpoint, Eric is let go because his job at Pierpoint (and their London sales floor) is now redundant. He got $20 million as a parting gift, though, so I don't feel bad for him. I do, however, feel bad for his daughters for having him as a dad, but that's a whole other story.

Henry - Poor little rich boy gets a life raft when Yasmin tells him to propose to her. I have nothing else to add here.

Rishi - Rishi thinks he'll be able to go work for Harper, but she tells him she has no interest in working with him. Flashing forward, and in the most shocking moment of the finale, his bookie, to whom he is in major debt, shoots Rishi's wife.

Sweetpea - Sweetpea might have come out the best of everyone. She escapes Pierpoint with another job lined up, and somehow avoids getting emotionally destroyed in the process.

My convo with Miriam:

Cosmo: I want to start with my most important question: do we think Sweetpea Golightly is your character's birth certificate name, or is this a nickname?

MP: I think it's her birth certificate name. It's pretty crazy, but I asked Mickey and Conrad if that was her name or a nickname, and they said it's her name.

Well, thank you. You know, that was part of it: How would that affect her growing up, and what kind of comments would she get? It was definitely something to consider.

How do you feel about your character basically predicting the fall of a multinational institution in her first year on the job? I didn't do anything that impressive in my first year.

Girl, same. I mean, it's incredible. I think watching her prediction come to fruition throughout the season was pretty crazy to see, and particularly in the last two episodes, you realize the severity of what she was warning everyone about and how it was at their own demise they didn't listen to her. But I also enjoy that she's eager to get out and look out for herself and try and be around some people that might listen to her first time.

Craig Gibson

Do you think she was able to leverage that for a big pay bump when she went to work for Harper?

That's an interesting one, but I think it makes sense that Harper hired her. I think Harper clocks on to Sweetpea's intelligence and competence and her perceptiveness. And I think she wants that on her side.

So she goes to work for Harper, and I was living for the scene when she and Harper tell Rishi, basically, you ain't shit and you're not working here. How did you and Myha'la make that scene count? You only have two scenes together the entire season.

It's an ode to her as an actress. She's very generous and very welcoming, and she was great to work opposite. I was really excited to work opposite her, because I didn't know if that was gonna happen or not. It was really interesting to see how Sweetpea is with Harper, versus how she's with Yasmin. And they're very different in how they act as her authoritative figures. The scene with Rishi at the end, that was one of my final scenes to film, and at that point, I felt a lot more comfortable on set, and I felt that I could play more and enjoy that moment. And I also think Sweetpea is really relishing in that moment. Kind of badass. I really enjoyed saying those lines.

What do you think accounts for the difference in how she acts with Harper and Yasmin?

Well, to cut Yasmin some slack, she has so much going on in her personal life this season that she's in fight or flight mode the entire season. So to have someone like Sweetpea in your ear being like, listen to me, listen to me, I get how you could dismiss that. However, it's interesting that you then put her in a room with Harper, and Harper does try and take as much information as she can from Sweetpea, but also realizes what an asset she could be. It shows the different places that both Harper and Yasmin are in.

I love the reveal that Harper has already brought on Anraj. Should Sweetpea and Anraj have their own spinoff show?

I mean, I'm down for that 100 percent. I'm so down. I don't know what would happen, but I would be very intrigued to see. I think that would be great.

Nick Strasburg/HBO

It's almost a "reveal" that these two characters are even friends. What do they talk about when they, like, go to drinks together?

I feel like they'd have a good gossip. Sweetpea has her million friends that she can constantly get information on. I think he enjoys her company. I think she enjoys his company. They don't use each other for a separate agenda, they don't manipulate one another. They're watching this world collapse around them and I suppose they lean on each other a little bit, and they're a little bit bonded through that.

It's interesting that Sweetpea starts this new job, and it doesn't seem like the ring light and tripod have made it over to the new office. The clothes are different, the mannerisms are different. Why do you think that is?

She needed to learn how to play the game a little bit, and she needed to reevaluate what would make her sink or swim in these work environments. She realizes that she's not taken seriously when she has her ring light and she's doing her videos. And not to say that part of her personality doesn't exist. I think it does. I think she's adjusting to the world around her, and it is interesting that she kind of chooses to swim.

Nick Strasburg/HBO

I wondered if it had anything to do with going from a male dominated workforce to a workforce that's primarily women, and maybe it's a mask that she can drop.

And also, she doesn't feel she needs to lean into the theatrics of making a statement that she's there. She can just exist and be good at her job, and that's enough.

How do you think Sweetpea will react to hearing about the death of Rishi's wife?

I've been waiting for that moment the whole season. When I read it, I couldn't really believe that it happened. How will she react? I think she doesn't know the severity of what's going on in Rishi's personal life. I don't think she understands how deep he is in this, and then when someone's killed because of it, it's quite a sobering thought. But it completely shocked me too when I read it.

Where do you net out on the Yasmin, Henry, Robert, love triangle. Who do you think Yasmin should have ended up with?

It's complicated, because it's not simply about love or no love. It's about, how can she exist in this world? And what does she need around her for her own survival? And that can come down to what Henry has. And it can be seen as tactful. I have mixed feelings on it. I think you want the loving relationship to come to fruition. But I totally get why she did what she did.

She doesn't really have the luxury of being like, Yeah, I'll just go over with this guy.

I agree. Completely. And it is a luxury just to be like, la, la, la, I'm gonna go with the person I love and not think about the massive repercussions which are happening in her personal life.

I wanted Yasmin to end up with Rob for her sake, but I wanted Rob to end up with someone else for his sake.

I'm with you.

Nick Strasburg/HBO

Who do you think came out the worst at the end of the season, and who did the best?

Who came out the worst? Well, that's got to be Rishi. I mean, come on now. Who ends up on top? I think Harper is in a strong position. I think Sweetpea is in a strong position. It can all change.

What are your predictions for season 4? So much of this episode felt like a series finale. I'm so curious where they'll take it from here.

What I love about the writing is that I don't really know, and I like that things can be flipped on their head and taken in a new direction. And I have my own personal little secret wishes for Sweetpea and where she can go, but I have no idea. I'm just excited to see what it is and see where they go with it.