Myha’la Herrold – Main Character Energy

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In an age of algorithm-driven sameness and matching bag charms, it’s tempting to say that a sense of self like hers is hard to come by. The truth is, it always has been. Authenticity isn’t something Myha’la has to reach for; it’s just who she is. “I don’t have a hard time expressing myself”, she tells me over a Zoom call one July afternoon. “Generally, I’m a pretty open book”. That openness runs through her work, too. Whether she’s wielding a meat cleaver in Halina Reijn’s black comedy horror Bodies Bodies Bodies or facing the end of the world in Netflix’s sci-fi thriller Leave the World Behind, her characters hum with raw, unapologetic energy. They’re smart, emotionally fearless, and completely uninterested in shrinking themselves to make others comfortable. The result? Performances that don’t ask for attention – they command it. Her origin story has all the markings of fate. She was just six years old when her mum enrolled her in a community theatre class in her native San Jose, California. “She always tells the story like, ‘I knew the second you got there, it was game over,’” Myha’la laughs. She never looked back. Discovering her passion so early only strengthened her determination to succeed.

“Acting was the only thing I ever wanted to do”, she says. “I never had the mentality that it wasn’t going to happen, which plays into this ‘fake it till you make it attitude’. You keep saying it, and you keep walking, and you make it true”. That resolve paid off in 2020 when she was cast in Industry. The drama, following young professionals navigating London’s financial world, quickly marked her as its breakout star. Harper Stern – ambitious, calculating, complex – became a character audiences couldn’t look away from.

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Roles in Reijn’s 2022 slasher flick and in 2023’s Netflix’s apocalyptic thriller further cemented her star status. And few moments better captured modern media fatigue than the eye-roll and groan she lets out while dissing her glow-stickclad friend’s podcast in Bodies Bodies Bodies. Despite her ascendance, including co-starring with Kylie Jenner in Miu Miu’s Autumn/Winter 2025 campaign, Myha’la approaches acting with striking clarity. “I’m learning something about humanity”, she says. “About how archetypes behave. It helps me understand myself and other people too”. But she isn’t the type to lose herself in a role. “When they call cut, I’m done. I’m not the character anymore. I don’t want to be them. I want to walk away and be myself”. Instead, she finds joy and catharsis in stepping safely into emotions she’d never otherwise touch. Pleasure might not be the right word, but it’s something close to it.

“I was so excited to film the fight in season three of Industry where I slapped Marisa (Abela, her co-star), because in real life, I don’t like to fight. I don’t raise my voice. I’m not interested in doing that”, she explains. “But the emotional release – putting yourself in that place, being able to express it fully – is definitely very rewarding”. “I just filmed a really emotional scene a few weeks ago for season four of Industry”, she recalls. “When I got home, I told my partner, ‘I’m really tired,’ and he jokingly said, ‘Oh, you’re tired?’ And I just started crying.

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He immediately apologised, like ‘I’m so sorry, I was just messing around!’, but I told him, ‘I just can’t take it right now. There’s just been so much emotion.’ I cried so hard, and he held me while I let it out. And when I was done, I felt so much better. That’s how our bodies release pent-up energy: we cry, we laugh, we scream. Whatever it is, we have to let it out”. After demanding days, Myha’la unwinds the way she always has: by cooking pasta (her go-to comfort meal) and spending time with the people she loves. It’s a ritual rooted in childhood, when she and her mom would cook side by side before settling in for a movie night. “Growing up, my favourite time was when we would make dinner and then sit down to eat and watch a movie or TV show”, she recalls. Now, the tradition lives on with her partner, fellow actor Armando Rivera. “That is always gonna be the thing that fuels me and what makes my body feel at rest – when I’m doing something fun with someone I love and who loves me”. Their relationship began not with a dating app but with Instagram. Rivera, a fan of Industry’s first season, sent her a message of appreciation. A conversation led to an interview for a school project, then to something deeper. Looking back, Myha’la believes it was fate.

“I genuinely think we belong together and that we were gonna find each other one way or another”, she smiles. It’s a through line in her life: the right projects, people and moments arrive when they’re meant to. When asked what she’d tell the little girl in community theatre, Myha’la’s answer is fierce and unflinching. “The things people don’t like about you? Those are exactly the things that make you special. Your individuality isn’t a weakness – it’s a tool. One day, people will celebrate it. They’ll be inspired by how fully you own who you are. So be patient. Don’t change. Don’t dim your light”.

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