As Heartbreak High comes to an end with its third and final season, actor Ayesha Madon is proud of the messages the show will leave behind. Since premiering in 2022, the Netflix reboot has put a contemporary spin on the iconic 90s drama. From a more diverse cast, to a deeper exploration of themes such as sexuality, mental health and identity, the show has strived to mirror the raw, real and often messy experience of being a teen in Australia.
According to Ayesha, the show’s success proves that diverse storytelling can be entertaining and profitable.
“I think something like Heartbreak coming into the zeitgeist, hopefully will show people that we can make really popular television and can make money,” the actor tells Rolling Stone Australia. “Like if it’s a business decision, we can make money off stories of colour. So I think that’s really cool.”
Overseas, films like Crazy Rich Asians have proved that diverse stories can sell at the box office. Ayesha’s argument that multicultural narratives appeal to audiences – thus making them commercially viable too – seems to have the global numbers to back it. In 2022, the first season sat in Australia’s top 10 TV shows on Netflix for five weeks ,and in the global top 10 TV shows on Netflix for three weeks. In 2024, Heartbreak High’s second season had been watched 2.3 million times globally within a week of its release, making it the seventh most-watched English-language TV show worldwide on Netflix.
Growing up in Australia with a Parsi background, Ayesha reflects on how monumental it has been to play the lead character, Amerie Wadia. Not only is the romantic female lead a woman of colour, but her personality is unfiltered, and unapologetically challenges the stereotypes of a quiet, nerdy, nice Indian girl.
“We really challenge a lot of the tropes, like tropes of being an Indian Australian,” she tells the publication, adding, “Amerie’s batsh*t crazy”.
Ayesha commends the strides that Australian TV and film have made so far in depicting greater cultural diversity on screen, as well as the international career success of fellow South Asian Aussies, like Geraldine Viswanathan. But, there’s still a way to go.
Hollywood isn’t perfect by any means, but US and UK productions are still more progressive. Bridgerton made headlines in 2022 when its second season featured Simone Ashley and Charithra Chandran in major roles. It was a big win for brown women, and even more so for darker-skinned South Asians who’ve rarely felt represented in western, and eastern media, for that matter. Ayesha believes Australia needs to follow suit.
Listen to our podcast interview with Geraldine Viswanathan below:
“I’m so grateful for how far we’ve come. I think we can push it. Now we need to see dark-skinned people on screen. I want to see dark-skinned Indians,” she says, adding she’d like to also see darker complexions when “Black people” and “First Nations people” are cast in Aussie television and film.
When I interviewed Ayesha in 2022 on behalf of Refinery29 Australia, she spoke about the challenges she faced growing up as a brown girl.
“I can’t speak on behalf of every first-gen brown woman, [but] my experience was tumultuous to say the least,” she said at the time while promoting Heartbreak High season 1.
“Obviously having body hair and being a brown woman, you’re not really seen as cool or hot or anything aspirational. I guess that takes a toll on your mental health along with the fact that you never get to see yourself in media or romanticised in any way.”
Now, Ayesha can proudly say she’s playing a role that will help change that for the next generation.
Ayesha stars in the new season of Heartbreak High alongside a diverse and talented cast including James Majoos, Chloé Hayden, Asher Yasbincek, Thomas Weatherall, Will McDonald, Gemma Chua-Tran, Bryn Chapman Parish, Sherry-Lee Watson, Brodie Townsend, Rachel House, Chika Ikogwe, Kartanya Maynard, Aki Munroe, Ioane Sa’ula, Ben Turland and William McKenna.
Heartbreak High Season 3 premieres on Netflix on Wednesday March 25.
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