Deadline has learned that his exit from the series after three seasons is due to scheduling conflicts. It's not entirely clear which of his upcoming roles will interfere with Industry's production timeline. Season 4 is set to begin filming in the UK in March.
Industry provided quite a breakout role for Lawtey as Robert Spearing, a bright-eyed and arrogant new finance grad who enters Pierpoint & Co. with all the confidence in the world, but is quickly humbled by the ruthlessness of the job.
Lawtey has becoming somewhat of a hot commodity over the past several years, recently appearing as Harvey Dent in Joker: Folie à Deux, so his exit is not entirely a surprise, but it might be disappointing to viewers who were hoping to see where Rob's story was set to go next.
The Season 3 finale saw Rob finally jump ship from Pierpoint to work on a psilocybin startup, which at the time had potentially indicated a larger storyline for the character in Season 4 as he went out on his own. Now, it appears, the character's startup journey will happen off camera.
Speculation grew about Lawtey's exit grew on Thursday following the announcement that Max Minghella would be boarding the financial drama in a new role. HBO also revealed that Kit Harington, who joined the cast last season as a wealthy heir and tech giant will remain part of the main cast for Season 4.
Other returners include Myha'la, Marisa Abela, Ken Leung, Sagar Radia, and Miriam Petche.
So far, details about the upcoming installment are being kept largely under wraps. However, creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay told Deadline in December that they are taking inspiration from Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton for Season 4.
"We want to write a corporate thriller," Down teased, calling Gilroy's film "the greatest corporate thriller of all time."
Industry really began to gain traction for HBO in its third season, breaking viewership records several times over the course of the eight episodes. It was also nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Drama Series.
In Season 3, as Pierpoint looks to the future and takes a big bet on ethical investing, Yasmin (Marisa Abela), Robert (Harry Lawtey), and Eric (Ken Leung) find themselves front and center in the splashy IPO of Lumi, a green tech energy company led by Sir Henry Muck (Kit Harington), in a story that runs all the way to the very top of finance, media, and government. Since leaving Pierpoint, Harper (Myha'la) is eager to get back into the addictive thrill of finance and finds an unlikely partner in FutureDawn portfolio manager Petra Koenig (Sarah Goldberg).