Kiernan Shipka’s Industry Confessions

Kiernan Shipka is that Hollywood anomaly: a former child star who emerged not just unscathed, but centered. After spending nearly a decade evolving in real-time as Don Draper’s daughter on Mad Men, she bypassed the typical pitfalls of young stardom in favor of a steady career, navigating supernatural covens in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and psychological scarring in Longlegs. Now she’s in Industry, HBO’s unhinged finance soap, playing an executive assistant who mayor may not be running a long con, the kind of slippery role where you’re never quite sure what she’s thinking. Here she reunites with her former co-star Jean Smart to discuss the luxury of being single, British fantasies, and why the best life is one where you cry for the camera and save the laughs for your friends.

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TUESDAY 3:00 PM, DEC. 30, 2025 LA

JEAN SMART: My god, I’m sorry to keep you waiting.

KIERNAN SHIPKA: No, you’re so cool to do this.

SMART: It’s so nice to see your face! I’m not done up because they said no camera.

SHIPKA: We can do audio-only.

SMART: That’s okay. Oh, god. I don’t know why I look purple.

SHIPKA: [Laughs] You do have a James Turrell purple hue situation going on, but it’s great.

SMART: You know, I was thinking about the movie we did and the fact that I had almost no scenes with you except when you were unconscious.

SHIPKA: I know. It was cool because I feel like I still got to see you do your thing with my eyes half open, but it was mostly you and Jacki Weaver just going at it.

SMART: Oh my god, isn’t she hilarious?

SHIPKA: She’s the best.

SMART: What you did with that voice-over was so interesting. It’s hard to get certain things across with just your voice. Some of it was dark, but some of it was very funny.

SHIPKA: Thank you. I’ve done quite a bit of narration in the past couple of years and it’s a funny thing, because you do the whole movie and then two months later you go into a booth and relive it. I’m always like, “Wait, am I narrating it as the character in the present?” I like voiceovers. What I don’t like is ADR.

SMART: Oh, that can be hard. I talk very fast in certain roles, and whenever I get to ADR, I think, “What the hell was that?” [Laughs]

SHIPKA: You never know until you have to match it.

SMART: But I’ve been looking at interviews with you, and I get the feeling that you’re very mature for your age.

SHIPKA: Thank you.

SMART: You seem extraordinarily level-headed for someone in your position. I’m sure people say, “Well, she grew up in the business.” But I have this feeling that it’s mostly just you. Do you think that’s the case?

SHIPKA: I definitely had an interesting introduction to the business with Mad Men, because having one steady thing for seven or eight years is such an anomaly. But I’ve always had a little steadiness within. I don’t know how it would’ve manifested otherwise.

SMART: Do you feel like you missed out on anything, being around adults so much growing up?

SHIPKA: No, because I wasn’t working all the time. I wasn’t number one on the call sheet. I was really in love with my life outside of acting.

SMART: Oh, that’s great.

SHIPKA: I think that’s what’s kept me stable in an industry where, even when you’re successful, you can be riddled with all sorts of anxieties. I loved everything about growing up-not everything, but I also loved my experience outside of what I did.

SMART: And the fact that you still see it that way is so healthy. I was looking at my list of Kiernan Shipka talking points. There were several good questions, but I like to make it more personal.

SHIPKA: Yeah, you can do what you want.

SMART: There was one question that just threw me and I thought, “Whoa, I don’t even know how I would answer this.”

SHIPKA: Now I’m scared.

SMART: What’s one thing about you that has not helped you in your acting career, but you have the feeling might?

SHIPKA: Oh, that’s such a good question.

SMART: Isn’t it? We can go back to it because it’s a big one.

SHIPKA: Well, in my personal life, I close up and then open up like a flood. I’m working on that.

[Laughs] It’s not going to be great long-term. But I do play uptight characters who have moments of explosion. I don’t know. I will say that I like being funny more than I get a chance to. I used to do improv growing up.

SMART: You did?

SHIPKA: Yeah. I’d like to do more hard comedy.

SMART: Well there’s your answer. Casting directors, are you listening?

SHIPKA: Hey, guys!

SMART: How are you feeling about your new show, Industry?

SHIPKA: I’m feeling good. It was nice to go into something that was already worked out. It’s cool to show up and everybody already knows what kind of show they’re making. And the character was so fun, the way that she unravels-not to spoil anything, but her intentions are always a little bit confusing and concealed.

SMART: That’s cool.

SHIPKA: I got a lot of the scripts in advance so I could sort of map out the whole thing. I’ve seen episodes now and I’m relieved that she makes sense because—

SMART: So you’re happy with it?

SHIPKA: I’m happy. How do you feel about watching yourself?

SMART: I got over the horror of that years ago. [Laughs] It was always, “I don’t like the way I look,” or, “I don’t like my voice.” Now I just say, “Is that what I was trying to accomplish in the scene?” I’m trying to look more at my work instead of being vain and looking at my face or my hair.

SHIPKA: Yeah. And the answer’s yes because it’s you. When we were together, I hadn’t seen Hacks-

SMART: I think I’d just started.

SHIPKA: My goodness, Deborah Vance is one of the greatest all-time characters.

SMART: So much fun.

SHIPKA: You can tell. I’m jealous. Some internet sleuth took a screenshot of Ava in the writer’s room, and there were all the little Post-it notes of different people that you were going to have on your character’s show, and I was one of them!

SMART: [Laughs]

SHIPKA: So I’m kind of in Hacks. It was the best day of my life, I swear to god.

SMART: Oh, that’s awesome. I wish I could take credit, but it’s not my department.

SHIPKA: Whoever did that made me feel so good about myself.

SMART: I was thinking about what you just said about starting a show that’s already had a few seasons. I’ve done that a couple of times and it’s a little nerve-wracking because it’s like jumping onto a moving train. But at the same time, you don’t feel like you’re responsible for making it successful. There’s less pressure.

SHIPKA: It’s nice because the energy is a little more figured out.

SMART: Is most of the cast British?

SHIPKA: It’s probably 70 percent British. I don’t know if this is a British thing or an Industry thing, but there was no rehearsal, very cameras up in two seconds. Not a lot of overworking the scenes because there really wasn’t time to, but it was great in that way.

SMART: That’s kind of like our show, too. How long were you over there?

SHIPKA: Five months. It was fun because we shot in Wales.

SMART: Oh, I love Wales.

SHIPKA: Beautiful. We were in Car diff, which is more of a college/metropolitan place, but Wales as a country is just green and lush.

SMART: It’s stunning.

SHIPKA: And then because I’m supporting, I’d have time off and take my little train to London. I felt like I slipped into a new UK life.

SMART: That’s awesome. When I was your age, I had not done any film or television. I was just doing theater. Sometimes I’m very grateful that was the way things went. But at the same time, I feel like I should have shipped to L.A. right out of college.

SHIPKA: It’s so double-edged. Starting as young as I did is not necessarily a recipe for success. There’s such value in building up to something instead of instantly—

SMART: I’m sure you know all the pitfalls of being a child actor, it just seems like your trajectory has been—not gradual because you never stop working—but the fact that you weren’t just a child actor. You didn’t have to decide to ditch that and do a sex tape or something. [Laughs]

SHIPKA: Yeah, the closest I’ve gotten is Industry. [Laughs]

SMART: Like, “I’m a grownup now, I want grownup parts.” You really evolved in such a nice way.

SHIPKA: Thank you. I always vacillate between feeling like I have a ton of time and none at all, which is maybe what being in your twenties is. But my post-Mad Men career has been gradual, and I’ve learned so much.

SMART: That’s so good, honey. Because so many of my decisions about work have been based on my kids, so it’s great to have this period of your life where you’re not married and don’t have kids, so you can just make decisions based on what you want, what you need, and what you feel like doing.

SHIPKA: It’s a luxury for sure. I don’t know when I’ll get married. I’d like to, though.

SMART: You have a lot of time.

SHIPKA: Yeah. We’ll do another interview in seven years and see.

SMART: [Laughs] Have you done any theater?

SHIPKA: No. I’d love to.

SMART: All you’ll have to do is snap your fingers.

SHIPKA: If I had my way, I would do 15 takes on each scene. Not because I want to reach something perfect, but because I want to explore. I feel like that’s theater. You get to do the same thing every night and I find that so—how long have you been in theater for?

SMART: Oh, god. I did nothing but theater until I was 31.

SHIPKA: In New York mostly?

SMART: No, mostly in Seattle, and then New York. Then I auditioned for a TV show that brought me out to L.A. and I just stayed. I figured it was time I should do something on camera. But what you were saying about being able to work on something, you just don’t have that luxury in film and television. Even when we’re shooting a scene on Hacks, sometimes they’ll shoot my side first, and then when I do the coverage, I’m like, “Oh man, now I know how to do the scene.”

SHIPKA: Every time.

SMART: [Laughs] You can’t go back so it’s like, “Ah.”

SHIPKA: The best work happens on someone else’s coverage, always, in our heads.

SMART: But even in theater. I did a play in New York this summer and it was at least a month before I went, “Now I know what I’m doing.” And you want to tell everybody who came opening night, “Please come back. It’s so much better now.” [Laughs]

SHIPKA: I think it’s good to have that sort of mentality, because sometimes TV and film can breed this fixed thing. I always try to make it feel more like discovery.

SMART: That’s the hard thing about theater, trying to make it feel new eight times a week.

SHIPKA: Do you find yourself doing something wild to make it new?

SMART: This time I didn’t because I broke my knee two weeks after we opened.

SHIPKA: Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.

SMART: I did the rest of the run with my leg in a brace from the ankle to the thigh, on a footstool.

SHIPKA: Oh my god, you legend.

SMART: It was a one person show so it kind of worked. But it was exhausting. We might do it again in L.A.

SHIPKA: Man, I always wanted to break something when I was a kid.

SMART: What! [Laughs]

SHIPKA: I had literal crutches because I wanted to cosplay having a broken bone. It was because one of the kids from Modern Family broke his arm and he went to the Emmys and got everyone to sign it. [Laughs]

SMART: You should have been me. I was so—well I obviously still am—accident prone. My poor mother, I don’t know how she survived my childhood. I bled more than my other three siblings put together. I went headfirst through the glass of my second story bedroom.

SHIPKA: What were you doing?

SMART: I was running and sliding in my socks.

SHIPKA: Oh my gosh.

SMART: I hit a little rug and just went—

SHIPKA: Out the window?

SMART: Just missed the driveway.

SHIPKA: Wow, you were spared.

SMART: Shredded my left foot on the way through the window, my little five-year-old foot. [Laughs]

SHIPKA: Oh, baby.

SMART: I didn’t walk for three months. And this year I was just hailing a cab outside Macy’s, not nearly as exciting. [Laughs] I never get hurt doing film, only when I do theater. Knock on wood.

SHIPKA: Interesting.

SMART: But I’m serious. When you have the time, have somebody find you a play you love.

SHIPKA: It’d be so fun.

SMART: It’s a completely different industry. It’s just you and the audience. No one’s going to say, “Stop.” No one’s going to say, “Try it like this.” No one’s going to say, “Cut.” It’s scary, very scary, but it’s pretty exhilarating.

SHIPKA: It’s foundational too, which is so nice.

SMART: Again, you have so much time to do all the things that you want.

SHIPKA: This is my new mantra.

SMART: Oh my god, I just saw myself on camera. My nose is so red.

SHIPKA: Your nose looks amazing.

SMART: I was on set the other day and I had to rush across the room. I tripped on a carpet, did a face plant, and got rug burn on my nose.

SHIPKA: Oh my gosh.

SMART: I had to wear so much make-up. It’s almost gone. But yeah, that was good.

SHIPKA: This is a lot of falling. This is a lot of taking a tumble.

SMART: [Laughs] Okay. I’m sure people always ask you this, but if you absolutely had to, would you choose comedy or drama? I usually say drama because I can be funny in my personal life. You don’t want to be really dramatic all the time.

SHIPKA: Yes, I don’t want my own life, when I look back, to feel like a drama.

SMART: You don’t want to be Suzy Creamcheese at work and a witch when you get home. [Laughs]

SHIPKA: Right. I’d rather the inverse. Let me have a little bit of a joke at the end of the day with my friends and cry all day for my job.

SMART: Exactly.

SHIPKA: Actually, this is how I feel about Hacks. Even though it’s a comedy, you’re finding the funny in dramatic stuff. Man, it’s such a good show.

SMART: Thank you. Well, I can’t wait to see you in Industry.

SHIPKA: I think it’ll be fun. Whenever I do something, the idea of it coming out and being seen by other people is still such a weird thing.

SMART: Yeah, that’s the scary part. Did you meet any cute Welshmen?

SHIPKA: There were a lot of cute Welshmen. I did not have a dalliance with any cute Welshman, though. I went on some dates, I had some fun in London, but I kept my Welsh relationships professional. I was there working, so I wanted to be respectful.

SMART: [Laughs] Oh yeah. I shot once in London. That was fun.

SHIPKA: Yeah. Hopefully I will again. A lot of stuff is shooting there.

SMART: But they still don’t let Americans play Brits. We let them play Americans all the time.

SHIPKA: Have you done a lot of dialect?

SMART: Some. I was a Brit in Babylon. Fargo had its own kind of dialect and Mare of Easttown had a very specific dialect. And then I’ve done a lot of Southern stuff. You’re a Yankee in your show, right?

SHIPKA: I’m a Calabasas girl.

SMART: Was that where you grew up?

SHIPKA: I grew up in L.A.

SMART: Why do you think your parents put you in a commercial when you were a baby? I’m sure you were a very pretty baby.

SHIPKA: I will say I was pretty cute as a baby.

SMART: [Laughs]

SHIPKA: My mom isn’t in showbiz, but she’s also not really enticed by it at all. And that always confused me. I guess they put me in everything extra curricular-wise, and that was the only thing I really took to. There’s something about mothers’ intuition, I think. Because I asked her to come out to L.A., and to this day, she still doesn’t know why she said yes. It was supposed to be for three months. And then I got Mad Men.

SMART: Were you homeschooled? I know so many people who were homeschooled, and they all seem so mature and together.

SHIPKA: Yeah. I think it worked for me. I was very proactive about making friends, which I still am to this day.

SMART: Well, I think you’re amazing, honey.

SHIPKA: Oh, thank you, Jean.

SMART: It was so fun to catch up with you.

SHIPKA: I know. I hope I get to see you around.

SMART: Are you going to be at any of the awards?

SHIPKA: I will be in New York, so maybe I’ll see you on the party circuit.

SMART: Okay. [Laughs] Well, I hope this was what you hoped it would be.

SHIPKA: It was.

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Hair: Clayton Hawkins using SexyHair at A-Frame Agency.

Makeup: Kali Kennedy using Addiction Tokyo at Streeters.

Nails: Eri Ishizu using Dior Vernis at The Wall Group.

Photography Assistant: Max Gray Wilbur.

Fashion Assistant: Sophia Ozan.

On-set Production: Cecilia Alvarez Blackwell.

Fashion Intern: Beckett Simpson.

Location: Anthony Landscape.

Special Thanks: Sofi La Fleur.