“I Think My Destiny Was To Cosplay Nine-to-Five”: As Industry’s Newest Hire, Toheeb Jimoh’s Stock Is Flying

As he stamps his place as Kwabena Bannerman in the HBO/BBC drama, the British actor talks his new life in finance and partying with The Dare.

Off the back of his Emmy-nominated breakout role as Sam Obisanya in the heartwarming football comedy Ted Lasso, Toheeb Jimoh has kicked off the new year with a spot in finance’s most intoxicating fictional world, Industry. His character, Kwabena Bannerman – a trader at Pierpoint competitor Mostyn Asset Management – ostensibly shares some traits with the convivial, easygoing Sam, as a chilled-out ‘finance bro’ that looks somewhat like a saint amongst the excess and party-animal instincts of his colleagues on the trading floor. 

However, following the recently-aired episode five, it’s clearer than ever that, when it comes to Kwabena, there’s an edge. For one, the privileged private school boy offsets niceties with an over-comfortability, at times, with picking fights. He’s also sleeping with his boss, Industry day-one Harper Stern (played by Myha’la). Although we’d previously only become lightly acquainted with the newcomer, in Season 4’s fifth offering, “Eyes Without A Face”, he’s centre-stage, buckling up for a trip to Accra. He’s joined by his colleague, Sweetpea Golightly (played by Miriam Petche) as they set off to uncover dirt on fintech company Tender, unlocking, too, some underlying tension between the two of them.  

Below, Jimoh gets candid with Man About Town on grappling with the finance jargon, hosting a Boiler Room as part of the show’s promo run, and whether he could ever see himself as a nine-to-five warrior. 

Hey Toheeb, congratulations on your debut season in Industry. Can you take us back to the moment you found out you got the role? What were your initial thoughts? 

I got a call from my agent when I was in a Chinese restaurant in London, so there were a lot of whispered cheers at my table. I had to be kind of muted because I was around a lot of strangers, but I was really excited. And also, almost immediately stressed. 

What were your first impressions of Kwabena when you met him on the page? 

Kwabena felt very different to me in a way that excited me. And, unlike some Industry characters, I found him really funny. The more I read, each line gave me a new question I was excited to figure out.

We’ve heard episode five is set to be a big moment for Kwabena. What do you think will surprise audiences when they’re given a closer look at the character? 

Up until now in the season, we’ve only really had a flavour of Kwabena. Episode five gives a deeper dive into who he is as a person, his motivations and his karaoke skills. 

The onscreen world of Industry is a heady, fast-paced whirlwind. What about taking on the role felt daunting at the beginning? And what excited you? 

The language and the finance of it all were daunting. With television, you don’t generally get a lot of time to research and prep. So there were many calls and voice notes to [Industry creators] Mickey and Conrad, almost daily, actually. I just needed to understand the jargon enough to say it and for it to make sense for Kwabena and the audience. And then it all flew out of my head immediately. I sadly can’t give any financial advice. But that learning curve was nothing compared to how intriguing joining this world was to me. I was a fan of the show before I joined, and it was a very exciting opportunity to be a part of such an unpredictable, fast-paced, young dynamic. Industry’s also unique in the way it showcases young UK talent. The characters can be reckless, but they’re layered and complex. So many great British actors are or have been part of the cast, and their brilliant careers reflect it.

Naturally, as part of the Industry press tour, yourself and your castmates rang the NYSE’s closing bell. What has been the biggest pinch-me moment from your time promoting the show? 

Last month, Charlie, Sagar, My’hala, Miriam, and I hosted a Boiler Room with The Dare in Brooklyn. It was my first Boiler Room, which was a very Industry moment in itself. It was even more exciting because I didn’t know partying could be work. Long may it continue.

Kwabena initially presents as one of the more relaxed, confident characters we’ve seen on the show. If you could give him a piece of advice at the beginning and the end of the series, what would it be? 

Beginning: don’t sleep with your boss.

End: trust your gut.

It’s six years since audiences first properly got to know you in Ted Lasso. How does taking on another internationally beloved TV show feel from this stage of your career? 

It’s exciting. I still have all the excitement and joy that I had when I first started Ted Lasso, to just jump into a new world and to play with new people. But compared to then, I feel like I have so much more experience, and I’ve found so much more of my own agency. Marrying those two together, those two elements, feels grounding and motivating.

If you didn’t go into acting, would a nine-to-five have been on the cards? A stint in finance, for example?

Finance? No. I used to want to be a lawyer, and then I realised I just really liked watching Suits and watching them wear suits. And so I think getting to be in Industry and getting to wear the nice suits myself kind of satisfied all I had ever wanted from corporate life. I think my destiny was to cosplay nine-to-five.