One of the greatest additions to Industry Season 3 is a new Pierpoint graduate named Sweetpea Golightly (Miriam Petche). We first meet the ludicrously named character when Yasmin (Marisa Abela) arrives at the office early enough to see Sweetpea in the midst of filming a TikTok for her many, many followers. Sweetpea’s desk on the trading floor even comes complete with a ring light, for picture perfect video calls.
However, because this is HBO’s Industry, Sweetpea Golightley is far more than just a Gen Z cliche. In just the space of one episode, she establishes herself as driven, clever, sassy, and self-aware. And as Industry Season 3 goes on, Sweetpea â more often than not â quietly asserts herself as the smartest person in the room.
So where did Industry co-creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay come up with such an incredible character? Evidently, a huge stroke of inspiration for Industry‘s newest grad came from…Love Island?
“I don’t want to say that she was the inspiration for the character, but people like Molly-Mae Hague, who have like a really, really intense work ethic and drive, almost to a Thatcherite-level of shamelessness about wanting to make money,” Mickey Down said. “It’s a thing that Gen Z has over Millennials. They’re not ashamed to say that they want to be successful.”
“For a person within the financial ecosystem, this makes total sense to us. Like, it’s almost like an â80s model of what it’s like to be in one of those places.Â
If the shamelessly ambitious cast members of Love Island inspired the vibe of Industry‘s newest grad, her name â Sweetpea â came from a wholly different British television show.
“Sweetpea, naming her, was just borrowing from Blackadder,” Konrad Kay said. “Because, like, you know, thereâs Captain Darling in that. So, every time you hear someone say Sweetpea in a serious tone, or whenever someone’s angry using her name, it’s immediately funny.”
In just the Industry Season 3 premiere, we hear both Yasmin and Eric (Ken Leung) snarl Ms. Golightly’s first name and it is, indeed, hilarious in how absurd it sounds.
Down also explained that they had hoped that Sweetpea, like all their characters, would come with “nuance,” but so much of what makes her so irresistible is Miriam Petche’s performance.
“On the page, you know, if you’re sending a bio to a casting director is that âGen Z TikToker, who works in the financial industry,â it’s like, okay, well, that’s going to be a stereotype,” Down said.
“You have to believe this person has incredible knowledge of finance, is incredibly ambitious, is funny, has all these side hustles, has a TikTok account. And you’ve got to believe all of that at the same time. That alchemy only exists and is able to happen because of Miriamâs performance.”
What’s even more impressive about Miriam Petche’s performance is that Down revealed she was still in drama school â at Guildhall â when they cast her.
“It was a lot for her to do, Miriam,” he said. “This is her first thing, really. We’re really proud.”
(Technically, Petche had worked as a child actor, appearing as Esmerelda Hallow in The Worst Witch as well as the BBC Two series Vexed, but there’s no doubt Industry is her first major adult role.)
You can follow Petche on Instagram and you can keep up with Sweetpea’s latest scene-stealing antics by watching new episodes of Industry Season 3 on HBO and Max.
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