‘Industry’: Sagar Radia On How Everything Comes Crashing Down For Rishi In Season 3 Finale
SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the Season 3 finale of Industry.
Industry wrapped its third season on Sunday night with an extra-long episode that turned just about every character’s world upside down.
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With its impending debt about to reach maturation, Pierpoint was on the brink of collapse, and the higher ups had mere hours to figure out a solution. After exhausting their options, they settle on giving up majority ownership of the bank to Middle Eastern investors and, by the time everyone comes to work the next day, there’s already a new name on the front doors. This change in ownership comes with a bout of layoffs that includes Eric (Ken Leung) and, before he can be let go, Rishi (Sagar Radia) walks out.
He’s already devised a plan with Harper (Myha’la) for Leviathan Alpha to hire him, as well as Sweetpea (Miriam Petche) and Anraj (Irfan Shamji), if he supplies insider information that will help Harper and Petra (Sarah Goldberg) execute their short against Pierpoint. But, after Rishi burns his bridges at Pierpoint, he treks to the Leviathan Alpha office only to find out he’s been double-crossed. Harper won’t be hiring him, but she will be onboarding Sweetpea and Anraj.
Defeated, he makes his way home to realize his own monstrous debt has come due. Episode 4 established Rishi’s gambling problem, which has left him owing some dangerous people money that he now has no idea how he’ll pay since he’s out of a job. He’s out of chances though, because Vinay has come to his apartment in London to collect his debt and, frustrated that Rishi doesn’t have his money, he murders Rishi’s wife Diana at the dining room table.
“It’s a pretty crappy day in the Ramdani house,” Radia joked to Deadline.
In the interview below, Radia spoke with Deadline about how everything comes crashing down for Rishi in the finale and brainstormed how he might pick up the pieces, or not, in Season 4.
DEADLINE: Every episode this season has just upped the ante so much. What was your reaction to reading these final two scripts?
SAGAR RADIA: Probably not too dissimilar from watching it, for those who have seen it now. I think you’re just left in a bit of shock. I think what’s really great with Mickey and Konrad is they’ve sort of elevated season to season, but this season, especially, they’ve elevated episode to episode, which just speaks so much to their talents as writers and creators. They’ve also directed these last two episodes. So there’s something to be said in that. It’s weird. In another world, this could easily be the end of the show. But…Mickey and Konrad love writing themselves into corners. They love being backed into those corners and having to punch their way out. I think they thrive on that. They’re incredibly intelligent writers, and I think they really enjoy the pressure and the challenge of going, ‘Alright, well, there’s no more Pierpoint. Where do we go from here?’
With the announcement of season four being commissioned, I’m sure they’re working on that as we speak. But it was a huge shock, and especially the Rishi stuff — it’s twofold, because obviously he gets screwed over thinking he’s going to join Leviathan Alpha, and he doesn’t. Then, obviously, he goes home and his wife gets shot. It’s a pretty crappy day in the Ramdani house…the shooting, it’s so left of what the show is. It’s not really tonally part of what the show is, which I think has the biggest impact for it, and I think it’s actually really smart.
DEADLINE: I’m glad you mentioned his wife getting shot. Where do you think Rishi goes from here? He’s burned his bridges at Pierpoint, his wife is dead now, and he still owes that money but doesn’t have a job.
RADIA: I’ve thought about this a lot, both prior to the show being commissioned again and since. I personally think it goes one of two ways. I think either he goes completely off the rails tenfold, because now he has nothing to lose. Well, no, he’s got a kid, so maybe he wants to do right by him. Maybe not. Who knows? I think he either goes completely off the rails, or he does a complete 180, and he completely fixes up. That’s where my instinct went. I’ve not spoken to the guys about it and what their ideas are. I think it’s easier to see him go a lot more off the rails. I think that’s far more compelling viewing…We thought he hit rock bottom, and then just a whole other hole opened up.
DEADLINE: He does get a chance to be better. Harper says they can’t take three people, and he immediately throws Sweetpea and Anraj under the bus, but he could’ve tried to fight for them. Why do you think he didn’t?
RADIA: I think one of the key things, especially in the penultimate episode, is that it really shows how self serving each character is, especially in terms of that main cohort. Whereas, actually, what you then see is that next generation of graduates in Sweetpea and Anraj they’re not really built that way. They’re just far more compassionate. They’re far more willing to do things the ‘right way.’ Whether it’s Yasmin or Harper or Rishi or Eric, they are all in a moment where their back is against the wall and it’s survival of the fittest. It’s survival instinct. It’s me or nobody. I think it’s just that selfish greed that we know them to have, that trait as a personality just comes to the forefront because they’re backed up against the wall. So what do you do when someone’s backed up against the wall? You look out for number one.
So I think that’s the reason he’s now got to a point where he’s like, ‘Okay, well, I could do what Eric’s saying, even though I know it’s not going to work. Or I just look out for number one, and I give Harper the inside scoop,’ which he does, thinking she’ll owe him one, and it backfires. I think it’s just everyone who’s self serving in that moment really, really hits home as to the type of people they are. He thinks he’s got one over on Harper again. I tell you, what I still question is whether he truly wanted to screw over Anraj and Sweetpea. I think when he lays out that offer to say, ‘I want them to come with me,’ I think he genuinely meant it at that point, because he’s the one who suggested it. Harper didn’t suggest it. Rishi suggested it. So I think in that moment, he is negotiating to try and bring his people with him. But I think when push came to shove, where Harper’s like, ‘It can only be one.’ Well, of course, Rishi is going to be like, ‘Alright, screw them, take me.’
DEADLINE: What was it like having Mickey and Konrad directing these last two episodes?
RADIA: It was a really seamless transition in my experience. They’re such hands on writer-creators, and they were on set and present so often that I think it was just a slight shift that I think was inevitable. I think they were always clucking to add that string to their bow. I’m so glad they got a chance to do it, because working with rolling directors is wonderful, and it brings a different fresh energy to it. But then when you get a chance to work with the showrunners of the show, and they step into the directing seats, there’s almost a shorthand, because we both know the characters in a way that nobody else does. So actually, in a way, I think it was really effective, because they would come over and give you a direction without saying too many words. But we both know what that means, because we’ve lived these characters. I think it was really healthy. It was a really great move from them and knowing them, they’ll probably want to step into the chair again at some point for the next season.
DEADLINE: Prior to this season, we don’t get to see much of Rishi’s personal life, and we often get to know him best through the offhand remarks he makes on the trade floor. How did you start to develop him as a character without getting much in terms of a backstory in the beginning?
RADIA: It wasn’t easy, if I’m being honest. He was quite a functional character, in Season 1, especially. I’m quite an instinctive actor. So I think for me, I don’t want to do too much if there isn’t too much there. You can [start] trying to overthink things, and maybe then overact things. So I think for me, it was just trying to keep things as simple as possible, and knowing what I had on the page, I was like, ‘Okay, cool. What can I do with this?’ So Rishi is this very alpha, front-footed, boisterous character. And for me, it was just trying to portray that attitude and that persona more than anything else. Then the words will be the words at that point. Then it’s just trying to figure out who he is as a person. I watched The Big Short again, and actually Jeremy Strong being Steve Carell’s right hand man in that was a big inspiration, which I know is some trippy, full circle thing because of what happened in Season 2. (When Eric tells Rishi he’s dressed like Strong’s Succession character Kendall Roy.)
I know it almost sounds a little bit made up, but I promise you, I watched The Big Short and I watched Margin Call, which are two of my favorite finance films. I watched Margin Call first, and I was watching what Simon Baker was doing in that. And I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s cocky, and he’s arrogant in that.’ It just doesn’t quite fit with Rishi, in my opinion. Then I went to The Big Short, having already seen it, but I went to it again. I think what Jeremy Strong did as Carell’s right hand man, his sort of executor — he had this gravitas to him…you could see he was just his guy. Right? I sort of saw Rishi as ‘the guy’ for the desk, whether it be for Eric or for anybody else.
DEADLINE: Speaking of that Kendall Roy line, there are some great one-off lines in this show, and Rishi gets so many of them. How do you nail those, especially on the trading floor?
RADIA: I don’t want to spoil it for you. This is sort of the magic of film and TV, I guess. But we don’t do it on the day. We do it in a studio, in ADR, months after we shot the show. So then they just place them in when they’re in the edit…which is why you don’t really get any reaction from anybody, because they’ve been added in after. Obviously, it just gives a flavor of the floor. It just gives a flavor of what happens on those trading floors, and how, actually, whatever stupidness he says, it’s just by and by, it’s just what’s to be expected, which is why you don’t see reactions. It’s kind of great in that sense, I think. But Mickey and Konrad are great with that. We come into the studio, and sometimes I can’t actually believe what I’m reading, and sometimes I have to say to them, like ‘Guys, I don’t know what this means. It sounds terrible. It sounds very rude, and I have no context about that.’ Then they’ll explain it to me, and the whole booth is in stitches.
DEADLINE: You work a lot with Miriam Petche this season. She just graduated drama school, as did many of the other cast members in earlier seasons. How has it been working with so many newer actors in these really intense roles?
RADIA: You know, it’s a mixture of feelings. I think there’s a mixture of pride and inspiration, because you see what they’re doing. I think of myself at that age, and I could not have come onto a show like this and led it. I just don’t think I was mature enough, probably, but they’re really fantastic. They’ve hit the ground running…you just look at this next generation, and you want to keep working harder and just want to be part of great projects and work with wonderful actors and wonderful creatives. And actually, what’s great about all of them is that their feet are still firmly on the ground. It’s not like they’ve let any of this get to their head. They’re just really down to earth people, which is really refreshing and really lovely, because you just come to work, and despite whatever they’ve experienced outside of the show, they come here and they’re committed, and they’re still invested in the work. That’s what’s really, really impressive.
DEADLINE: With the show moving into the Sunday night slot this year, if has started to really transcend its original audience. How has that been to see it blossom?
RADIA: I think I can only speak for myself, personally. I think the reactions have been beyond my wildest dreams or what I thought it was going to be. Moving to the Sunday slot, ‘Okay, great. There’ll be a few more posters, or there’ll be a few more bits that they’ll do, and that’ll be great and that will really help us.’ But I think the response has been just crazy. I definitely, personally, didn’t see it coming, but it’s been flattering, because we live in a world now where shows come and go so quickly, and they don’t always have a chance to grow. They don’t always have a chance to evolve. They don’t have a chance for audiences to really invest themselves in it. So in that sense, we’ve been really lucky, because we had Season 1, and the ratings weren’t the best. Season 2, they were a little bit better, but HBO stuck with us, and we’re so grateful that they did.
Then we get something like three, and it moves slots, and you add juggernaut talent like Kit Harington and Sarah Goldberg, who were essentially HBO darlings in terms of the successful shows they’ve been part of. That, coupled with the fact that the scripts have evolved, the actors have evolved, the characters evolved, you throw in some other new people like Miriam and Irfan, who’s obviously got a larger part in this season, and I think it’s just adding ingredients to make the show as best as it can be. I think we’ve really hit the nail on the head this year, and I’m super proud to be a part of it. I think the response from the press and and the audiences have been just overwhelming in moments, especially like when Episode 4 came out. It was such a lovely moment for me. People were saying such nice things. I didn’t really know what to think at one point, it’s all been positive, and it’s all been really lovely. I think the cherry on the cake was obviously the the commission of Season 4.
DEADLINE: Mickey and Konrad told me that they have a ‘really good idea’ for Season 4. I don’t know what to take from that, but I am curious what you’re hoping to see from another season and what you’re looking forward to about it.
RADIA: I think you made a really valid point. I think the best thing to do is not think about it at this point. I have no idea what’s going to happen with Rishi. they could just throw a bunch of curveballs, as they have been doing for three seasons. So I think trying to prepare in any way is probably counterintuitive, especially because the show takes a massive turn at the end of this season, right? There is effectively no Pierpoint, or is there? We don’t know what that means. So I think the reality of going back to work the way it has been for the past three seasons is not an accurate representation of what it’s probably going to be…whenever we shoot it. I think the healthiest thing to do is to not think about it and wait to speak to the boys and find out whatever Rishi’s journey is and what the journey of the show as a whole is, and look at that arc and see where we end up. I think that’s probably the best thing to do without my mind going into overdrive.
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