Myha’la: ‘I have a lot of big feelings’

This story is taken from the summer 2026 issue of Dazed, which is on sale internationally from June 5. Pre-order a copy of the magazine here.

There’s a scene at the start of Industry’s new season where everyone’s favourite antihero, Harper Stern, is inspecting herself in the mirror wearing nothing but a strap-on. We see her stroke it, feeling the weight of a new kind of power she’s stepped into–and consider what she should do with it. The same insatiable ambition lives inside Myha’la, who plays Harper. Or rather, Myha’la’s ambition lives inside Harper. “I don’t really take no for an answer, I just don’t do it in the way she does,” she says. “I’m a kill-them-with-kindness girl, not a bulldoze-a-bitch girl.”

On my way to meet Myha’la in a Manhattan cafe at 11am, she calls me at precisely 10:59. “Let’s meet on the corner of Canal and Baxter.” She knows a good spot for matcha. On the quick walk through sunny Chinatown, she explains how coffee makes her anxious, as do large crowds. She had a panic attack during Sabrina Carpenter’s Coachella set, she tells me, throwing her head back in laughter. “I take my work seriously, but not myself,” she says. It’s true: she’s cutthroat in Industry, which follows a group of young people navigating the pressure-cooker world of finance. Off-screen, however, in direct contrast to the intensity of the show, she often posts TikTok videos dancing with castmates and real-life friends Ken Leung (Eric) and Marisa Abela (Yasmin).

Myha’la, known professionally by her first name since 2023, describes her role in Industry as fate. “One hundred per cent, I am meant to play Harper,” she says. “I believe I was supposed to do it for a plethora of reasons – some I probably don’t even know yet – but I think that being the person I am colours her in a way that is important to me.” She landed the role after sending an audition tape filmed while tipsy and then leaving the US for the first time for a chemistry read in Wales.

Myha’la speaks of Harper like a sister: she’s proud of her resilience, sympathetic to her flaws, and happy to play her from a position of power as the series moves beyond the trading floor. “I’m inspired by her ability to set and maintain her boundaries, and I’ve taken note of that,” she says. Myha’la puts Harper’s shortcomings, of which there are many, down to her being human. Harper is a morally ambiguous but sympathetic character; she’s willing to fabricate her academic credentials, undercut and manipulate people and dabble in insider trading to get ahead, but she only does so to survive in a dog-eat-dog environment. Her high-risk, short-only tactics eventually bring her closer to a Robin Hood-type figure, taking down companies that are unethical or fraudulent. Myha’la relishes playing someone so complex. “What I like about Harper is that she’s not your typical Black girl on screen. She’s not a perfect woman or business person. She is not [idealised] in any way.”

Since being introduced to the world through Harper, Myha’la has delivered standout performances in films including Bodies Bodies Bodies, Swiped, Dead Man’s Wire and, most recently, horror comedy They Will Kill You. “I love people; I want to get inside their minds and figure out what makes them tick,” she says of her approach to acting. “As long as the character has something to fight for or fight against, then I’m into it.”

Myha’la never thought she’d end up as a “known person”. The fame, the fashion campaigns – none of it was planned. Acting has always been the dream for the star, born Myha’la Herrold in San Jose, California, but her sights were set initially on a more modest career on Broadway. When her mother was pregnant with her, she went to see a local production of Once on This Island with some friends. As the story goes, Myha’la started kicking during the performance. “My love of this art form really does feel beyond,” she says. “I do feel like it’s my calling, and I would die if I didn’t do it.”

“I know there’s that unhealed, unserved part of me that wants people to know I’m part of the cool kids’ group”

One of Myha’la’s earliest inspirations was Bernadette Peters’ performance in Stephen Sondheim’s 1986 musical Into the Woods. Peters’ take on the witch, loosely based on the fairytale villain from Rapunzel, has stuck with her for years; she speaks with awe about the character’s transformation from “mangled and disgusting” to beautiful with “buff arms”. She went to a Catholic school in San Jose because of its theatre programme (she was constantly breaking the rules there, which she says was very “punk rock” of her). She was always laser-focused on acting and even played the witch in a high school production of Into the Woods, emulating Peters’ performance as closely as she could.

Myha’la is convinced she’ll return to the stage one day. It’s all part of the plan. Prior to Industry, she had lost out on a part in some “random FX series” that she swore would change her life, as well as a role in Gypsy on Broadway. “I’m a firm believer that what is meant for me will find me in the time and place it’s meant to find me,” she says. Until then, she’s found a new love in TV and film, and she still sings around the house (and on her Stories) for fun “all the time”. “Singing is what happens when words are not enough,” she says. “And I have a lot of big feelings in general.”

Myha’la has never doubted her path, but it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. “I had friends, but because I was a big theatre nerd who was always dramatic and was kind of too honest, people at school were embarrassed by me,” she says. “It made me wonder, ‘Why are people not proud of being my friend?’” To this day, when she makes a new friend, she often finds herself seeking reassurance. “It feels very Freudian. I know there’s that unhealed, unserved part of me that wants people to know I’m part of the cool kids’ group, too.”

In a time when practically anything can be deemed as embarrassing online (even having a boyfriend), people have made comments about how Myha’la and her husband, actor Armando Rivera, are practically inseparable. Her rationale is simple: she wants people, including her husband, to know how proud she is to be in their lives. Rivera is also her biggest fan: he watched season one of Industry and sent her a DM asking to interview her for a university project. “We talked for 45 minutes and I was immediately in love with him,” she says. “The body knows what the heart wants.” They held an intimate wedding in 2025 but waited a full year before posting the photos on Instagram (though she says this wasn’t intentional).

Myha’la has starred in campaigns for Loewe, Miu Miu and Stella McCartney, and recently attended Alessandro Michele’s A/W26 Valentino show in Rome. She puts her love of fashion down to her mum, who she describes as “crunchy”. “Being fabulous on a budget was always our thing,” she says. “That’s where thrifting came in.” She resented her school uniform and longed for the days when she could wear what she wanted. Now, she’s become known for her power-suit method dressing and distinct sense of personal style, mixing brands like Luar and Valentino with vintage pieces. In fact, she longs for the time before vintage resale became popular, when it was far easier to waltz into a thrift store and snag a pair of Prada loafers. “Thrifting has been commodified in a way that I find really annoying,” she says.

Halfway through our conversation, I have a confession for Myha’la: when I first watched Industry, I started buying stock in unconventional places, convinced I would make loads of money (I didn’t). I wanted to be like Harper. But Myha’la says she never learned the money stuff herself. “My first paycheck? I blew the whole thing,” she says. “I paid $15,000 at the end of that season to fly three of my best friends and mum to Paris for five days and rented a houseboat.” She doesn’t have any regrets, even if she had to stay at Lena Dunham’s house during the pandemic because she couldn’t afford her rent. “I love spending money. I love shopping. I love eating. I love doing stuff with my friends,” she says. “If you see a newly famous person, you can bet they’re broke nine times out of ten.”

I’m catching Myha’la days after a major life milestone: her 30th birthday. She says she feels like she was “always meant to be 30” and her Saturn return in her late 20s had been “kicking her ass”, including some health issues she’s only now recovering from: “My whole gut got fucked because I was in and out of hospital too many times, on too many antibiotics, in a short period of time. It was horrible. I had to rebuild my gut by rebuilding my entire lifestyle: food, exercise, sleep.” Now, she’s a bit of a wellness guru, mostly because she’s had to be. The morning we meet, the actor has spent ten minutes on her new vibration plate. “If you’re not into wellness, you must be well. Congratulations,” she laughs.

After reaching her wits’ end with health issues, Myha’la went to see a tarot reader in 2024. They connected her to her ancestors (but didn’t give any specific names). “My spiritual guides were all really funny,” she says. “They were roasting me, and I felt not alone, like I had a support group of people looking out for me.” This prompted her spiritual journey, although manifestation has always been a part of her vocabulary. “My mum always told me I was a very powerful person. I very much believe she’s a good witch.”

As we finish our matchas, Myha’la talks openly about what it would take to make her feel like she’d “made it” big. “I’m living a dream I didn’t even have, which is amazing, and I’m grateful and shocked every day,” she says. “But the bar always moves because I don’t own a house and I want to retire my mum fully.”

There’s a world of possibilities opening up for Myha’la, with Industry’s final season on the horizon alongside other projects she’s unable to talk about right now. She’s keen to get messy and dig deep into the emotions she once felt were “too much”. “I want to be someone’s wife, someone’s sister, someone’s lover,” she says. “And I want to do it all in a way that feels unexpected.”

Hair Dre Demry-Sanders at MA+ Group using Oribe, make-up Shyanna Lundi using Merit Beauty and Biologique Recherche, nails Natalie Pavloski at Bridge Artists using Chanel, set design Ian Salter at Frank Reps, lighting Javier Villegas, photographic assistant Ashley Hernandez, styling assistant Jackson Prus, set design assistants Jack Seney, Russell Mangicaro, tailoring Matthew Neff at Carol Ai Studio, production 
Lizzy Freedman, production assistant Diego Fernandez, post-production picturehouse + thesmalldarkroom, Natth Jaturapahu, casting Greg Krelenstein at gk-ld, special thanks Elevate Cater NYC