The Industry actor sets his sights on Gotham, Hollywood and beyond
While enjoying the lingering LA sun the evening before he began shooting Joker: Folie À Deux, Harry Lawtey — who describes himself as “a nervous presence” — had an epiphany. “You may never be in a position like this again,” he thought. ”So you’ve just got to give it a go and try to enjoy it.” He will be forever grateful for that moment, as the next day the 27-year-old arrived on set as tenacious Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent, ready to go toe-to-toe with Joaquin Phoenix’s tortured clown. As if the stakes weren’t high enough, scheduling meant that he wasn’t introduced to his co-star until they were filming a scene together. “The first time I lay eyes on Joaquin, [there’s] a close-up of my face looking at him walking into a room in character,” Lawtey marvels to Empire. “There’s no acting required.”
The actor’s Gotham debut arrives in the same week that Industry — the cut-throat, London-set investment-banking drama — launches its third season in the UK. In the US the latest instalment has already garnered high ratings and acclaim for its young stars, including Lawtey. Since Industry first aired in 2020, his working-class graduate, Robert, has faced addiction, problematic sexual relationships and violence. “By this point I’m slightly desensitised,” laughs the actor when discussing the show’s intense nature. “But then, you still never know what’s going to [happen] when you turn the pages; the scripts have maintained the ability to shock me.”
Industry was Lawtey’s big break after graduating from Drama Centre London in 2018. Growing up, he was raised by his parents on classic homegrown cinema. “By the age of about seven I’d watched Kes, Brassed Off, Billy Elliot [and] some other Ken Loach stuff. It was a pretty full-on introduction to British indie movies,” he remembers cheerfully.
Billy Elliot in particular struck a chord, with its messages of perseverance and possibilities. It stuck with him as he began a career which has also taken in supporting roles, notably opposite Christian Bale — another actor familiar with Gotham’s criminal underbelly — in The Pale Blue Light. That was a formative experience for Lawtey, who also grew up on Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movies. “I was cultivating more of a taste for acting at that point, and to see Christian and Heath Ledger dominate those films was really exciting,” he explains. “I think they changed the landscape for what was possible in this genre.”
With Joker, Lawtey was in the presence of two other titans, Phoenix and Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. “I had absolutely zero expectation that this part could possibly go my way, so it just felt like a free hit in that sense,” he says of auditioning. That nothing-to-lose attitude apparently did the trick, as shortly after sending off his self-tape, he got a call from Todd Phillips, hiring him. Much as he admires Aaron Eckhart’s iteration of Dent, Lawtey consciously set out to make the role his own. “I think one of the wonderful things about these comic-book characters is they’re almost, in the modern cultural landscape, quite Shakespearean,” he explains. “In the sense that many actors have given their Hamlet, many actors have given their Joker as well. Each of [these characters] are bespoke to them.”
Next year he takes on his first major leading role, playing Richard Burton in a biopic about his early life. “It’s a huge responsibility that has a cultural significance that is not lost on me,” he admits. Whatever lies ahead, given his trajectory in just a few years, it would be surprising if Lawtey didn’t find himself on another LA hilltop in the evening sun again soon. Here’s hoping he remembers to enjoy it then too.
The Podcast: Elis James And John Robins
“There’s a fervent community that listens to the [BBC Radio 5 Live comedy] show and I feel very glad to be part of that. Especially going through lockdown, they were such an aid to so many people.”
The Book: Sum – David Eagleman
“This was a wrap present from Toby [Jones, Lawtey’s Mr Burton co-star]. I would take any recommendation from that man.”
The Show: Masters Of The Air
“I’m watching it guiltily because one of my best friends, Ben Radcliffe, is in it and I’m shamefully behind the trend, but I’m really enjoying it.”
This article originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of Empire. Photography by Holly Marie Cato, shot exclusively for Empire in London.