Industry season 4 will be short of another key player in the cutthroat world of investment banking.

Star Conor MacNeill, who played controversial character Kenny Kilbane, has confirmed he won’t be returning to Pierpoint & Co for the fourth instalment.

“Kenny’s gone from Pierpoint – at the end of season 3, Pierpoint is gone itself. I don’t know is the God’s honest truth. It felt very explosive,” MacNeill told RadioTimes.com.

The actor said he’s “really excited” to see how the story progresses in season 4, but it’s unlikely Kenny will show up alongside protagonists including Harper Stern (Myha’la Herrold), Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela) and Eric (Ken Leung).

myhala, industry, season 3

BBC

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“I would work in Industry forever, it’s such a brilliant team of people to work with. But the great thing about Industry is how cutthroat it is because that’s the truth of that world, right?” MacNeill said.

conor macneill, industry, season 3

Nick Strasburg//HBO

He also reflected on how Kenny’s arc evolved throughout the three seasons released so far.

“And so those storylines – like where that happened, it felt so right. It also felt like Kenny deserved it a bit as well. It’s like, you can’t get away with your s**t. You get called in at some point,” MacNeill said.

harry lawtey, kit harington, industry season 3

Nick Strasburg//BBC

Related: Industry renewed for season 4

“But also, his life had changed and I think the toxicity of Pierpoint … he didn’t gel there as well as he did in the beginning because he wasn’t playing by the rules anymore. I think that’s that world.”

The actor has traded the grey offices of Pierpoint for 18th century Scotland in prequel series Outlander: Blood of my Blood, in which he plays Ned Gowan.

As for Industry season 4, MacNeill isn’t the only star who won’t appear in the new chapter.

Robert Spearing won’t reprise the role of Harry Lawtey in the upcoming instalment, but the cast will add Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton, Ted Lasso’s Toheeb Jimoh and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Kiernan Shipka.

Also joining season 4 are Kal Penn, Claire Forlani, The Handmaid’s Tale star Max Minghella, Spencer star Jack Farthing and Coronation Street’s Amy James-Kelly.

Industry airs on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK and HBO in the US.

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Reporter, Digital Spy

Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy. 

Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).