As fashion and entertainment become even more intertwined, the hit-show-to-brand-campaign pipeline is more accelerated than ever. That’s what makes casting an actor like Ken Leung, whose presence on the stage and screen spans the better part of three decades, feel extra special. Today, the Industry star makes his modeling debut in Theory’s spring 2026 collection, for the label’s “Made in NYC” campaign. Not unlike Leung’s lively yet far-ranging career, with memorable roles in cultural juggernauts including The Sopranos, Rush Hour, and Lost, the range of knitwear, relaxed outerwear, and lightweight separates conveys a quiet confidence and intentionality.
Ahead of the launch, GQ chatted with Leung about style lessons he’s learned from his Industry castmates, finance-bro fashion as armor, becoming an unexpected TikTok star, how Eric Tao is “trying on” retirement this season, and whether his character will ever be able to come clean.
Ken Leung: I’ve been witnessing my castmates on Industry do a lot of things like this. I’ve always admired how comfortable they are with it, and I’ve been curious about what it’s like, because it’s a world I’ve never gotten to step into. So this was a real treat and a real experiment for me. It was really cool. We had great photographers, Tanya and Zhenya Posternak, who made me feel very comfortable. It was very easy to shoot, so it was a lovely experience. And now I have a taste of what I’ve been watching from afar.
It’s not even just this campaign or that campaign—just watching them. Like, when we go on press things together, just watching the way they walk … talk about quiet confidence! The way they walk into the space, there’s a kind of “take charge” confidence to them. I’ve been really admiring them, it just activates a curiosity in me. Whereas before, I was like, “Oh, that’s them, and I’m over here.” Now it’s like, “Let me take a step into this room. Let me take a peek and see what it’s like.” And everyone at Theory just made it effortless.
I grew up in Lower East Side-slash-Chinatown for all of the ’70s, I was there until I was nine. I had this.... it’s called a “mein lap” in Cantonese. It’s my favorite. I wish I had a grown-up version. It’s a house coat, it’s silk, but then it’s padded and has Mandarin collars and little frog buttons. I just wore it all the time. I don’t know that I had any kind of fashion sense. It was for comfort, right? And I think I’ve evolved that kind of philosophy. I dress in whatever I can sleep in. Growing up in New York City, there’s this sense that everyone lives on top of each other. I think there’s a sense of personal space that maybe is not there when you’re not in a crowded city, and that personal space creates this funny duality. On one hand you dress or other people, but on the other hand, you do the other thing. You dress for yourself: You don’t like the way I look? Don’t look at me! There’s this funny balance that we strike as city dwellers in terms of the way we dress. I’ve evolved to kind of wear the same thing every day. I’ve learned recently that there’s even a phrase for it—people call it a uniform, yeah? That suddenly gives it a structure that was never intended. It’s what’s lying on the ground next to my bed from yesterday, until I have to wash it and then I grab something else.
It’s nothing they’ve consciously put me on to. It’s just them—by example. I know that Mickey has this whole closet full of Miyake suits. I wore one of that style of suit last season for some of our press things, and he was like, “Oh, I have that in every color.” So I was like, “Okay, that’s a Mickey thing. I’m gonna stay away from that.” That’s a kind of thinking that I’m not practiced in. I never think about stuff like that. But because of press and events and stuff, you know, you can’t help but develop a thinking around that stuff.
I think with Eric, it’s not so much what he wears, but how he wears it. For example, we’ve seen him change clothes on the trading floor. We’ve seen him in his boxers on the trading floor. He treats the trading floor like it’s his personal bathroom, his bedroom, his closet. It’s his way of owning the space. You’re not gonna not wear a suit to work at Pierpoint, but it’s about how you wear it.
It feels really cool. But there’s a sense of armor that’s beyond cool. I find that interesting. If you’re wearing armor, then you anticipate danger, or you anticipate an attack. That’s why you’re wearing armor. And then that becomes: What are you defending yourself from? What are you protecting yourself against? What are you afraid of? So it actually reveals a vulnerability more than some kind of, you know, posturing coolness.
It felt really comfortable. I think Eric is in a place of “trying on” retirement, right? What is that feeling? I guess this is a “retirement outfit,” like, how does that feel on me? Because what we witnessed, you know, he’s apparently reached everyone’s dream. You work all your life to be able to do nothing, and that doesn’t work for him. Maybe the hat is like, Wow, it’s not obvious how I wear it. I’m uncomfortable in this, in this comfort. There’s that subtle kind of duality with Eric; he’s not wearing retirement quite the way he maybe dreamt about.
I think he recognizes the need to do something different because of his daughter, who he has no relationship with. He’s been a completely absent father, and she’s starting to show signs of resembling his worst qualities. I think he finds that alarming, and for the first time, he’s trying to look in the mirror in a way that he never has. The important thing is not could he. The important thing is that he recognizes that he needs to. And so the season sees him trying that. That’s his deal for season four—trying on a new, you know, “outfit” for the sake of his kid. To show up in a way that he never has, and because he hasn’t, he doesn’t know how to do that. So he’s gonna look for places that he does know to try to find a path to her, and that’s obviously through Harper.
I do it because she’s fun to do it with. She’s great. I don’t know that I would do it with anybody else. She’s so into it. I was like, “You’re so good at this!” And she’s like, “Well, I’m a kid.” She asks me in a way that gives me so much freedom to say no, that I can’t say no. I love to dance, and she loves to dance, so it’s a perfect combination.
I mean, I love it. I love Eric and Harper. From the beginning, it was really hard to not have anything to do with her, practically. Last season felt strange because of that. To the point where even when she wasn’t around, I felt her around—it was like a phantom Harper. To have her back is like a kind of a homecoming. She’s such a versatile actor. You never know what you’re gonna do, but you’re always game, and you always feel safe. That’s not the case all the time. If I try something else, I go in a different direction mid-scene, she’s cool with it, and vice versa. There’s a trust there that is rare.
Recently we had a 20-year anniversary of Lost, which was so long ago. It’s a little surreal to suddenly hear about it again. But I have to say, almost exclusively now, it’s Industry. It’s particularly people in finance who are excited to tell me they’re in finance. That’s the other thing, too. It’s not so much what you’re being recognized for, or it’s the enthusiasm that is new. It’s like they think you’re one of them, I guess. You could not ask for a bigger compliment as a performer. But then at the same time, there’s this slight case of mistaken identity. It’s like, Surely, you know I’m an actor and not in finance.
Also, Eric is not a nice person. So a lot of times I’ve heard, “Oh, you remind me of this boss I had,” and I always say “I’m so sorry to hear that,” and they don’t mean it that way.
Maybe they see the humanity, or they recognize the humanity in what we’re portraying. Because we’re not, you know, it’s not a clinic on finance. We’re not posing finance. We’re playing the people underneath the finance, and maybe they see their own struggles in that. Then it makes sense that would resonate with them.
Redemption? You know, they’re both addicts. They’re addicted. They’re addicted to a certain kind of action. So then, if the question is, who is more likely to come clean? I would say Eric, in that he has the added agenda of finding a path to his kids, whereas she doesn’t have that.
I think in the very first episode, he asks for a new way of talking with her. Like, can we know each other? Is it possible that we can know each other differently? I think underneath that, he’s like, I need to learn how to engage with a young woman in a way that I am not used to. Because I have a kid who’s in trouble, I need to find a path to her. I think that’s kind of underneath everything for him this season. She speaks his language, she understands him in a way nobody else does. She is starting to resemble the younger him in a way that his daughter is resembling him. So it’s like, I understand this. I don’t understand this. Maybe I can find this through the one that I know. That, in a nutshell, is Eric’s journey this season.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.