If Ayesha Madon looks familiar to you, there’s good reason for that. Her face has featured prominently on Netflix queues around the world as Amerie Wadia, the central character of the streaming giant’s wildly popular reboot of the iconic ’90s-era Aussie show, Heartbreak High, shot right here in Sydney. Earlier this year, the series’ second season debuted at number one in Australia, and stayed on the global top ten list for three consecutive weeks. Throw in the more than two-billion views that #HeartbreakHigh has garnered over on TikTok, and that’s a lot of exposure.
But with the third and final season of Heartbreak High poised to begin shooting again soon, and Ayesha’s music career gaining momentum – with a couple of gigs coming up on the SXSW Sydney line-up, to boot – it’s time that the world got to know the woman behind the loveable teenage ratbag from the screen.
When I enter the stunning State Suite at the QT Sydney where the photoshoot for Ayesha’s Time Out Sydney cover took place, I stumble upon what is frankly one of the coolest sights I’ve ever seen. The young star, perched on a coffee table in a pair of biker boots, her hair whipping around like in a Beyoncé video (facilitated by the expert wielding of some kind of miniature leaf blower), our photographer shouting directions, and Ayesha subtly shifting positions while flawlessly holding the camera’s gaze. Well, definitely no bumbling teens here. A few outfit changes later, we sit down for our interview.
“This show [Heartbreak High] has been such a monumental part of my twenties," she says. "I first got involved with the project when I was 20 or 21, and I'm now 26. So it's played a pretty instrumental role, obviously, in my career, and it was also the thing that gave me creative freedom with the music as well,” Ayesha shared. “I'm ready to part from the project, but also I'm really sad to see it go.
“I think the writing team struck gold in that room,” she says, when speaking about the way Heartbreak has managed to draw in such a broad fanbase. The drama’s authenticity and humour has not only appealed to adolescents – after all, there’s nothing that screams timeless Aussie highschool life like eshays, a nice sprinkling of the c-word in casual schoolyard vocabulary, and doing ‘The Nutbush’ at your formal. (Not to mention the chance to stickybeek at the filming locations around Sydney.)
The cast and the crew [of Heartbreak High] are like my best friends in the world. I think we'll always have that family dynamic.
The young star is definitely not just sitting back and waiting for the next opportunity to come along. She recently returned home to Sydney in anticipation of her involvement in the music stream of SXSW Sydney’s sophomore edition, as well as a “secret filming project”. But before that, she spent two months in London, working on her music with “state of the art” producers and writers.
“It was so exciting to be working with the producers who’ve worked with my favourite artists in the world, like Rina Sawayama, Beabadoobee and Chappell Roan. It was such a surreal experience. I think my favourite periods of time are when I get to just bunker down, write, and be creative – so it was all the better doing that in London,” says Ayesha.
With witty lyrics and a fresh alt-pop sound, Ayesha’s music has been described by triple j as “colourful, endearing, lush pop sweetness”. There’s a brand-new single set to drop on November 15, and Ayesha’s debut EP is coming early next year.
Her most recent single ‘Blame Me’ dropped in June – it’s an ode to the inconvenience of crushes, paired with a subversive music video that sees an axe-wielding Ayesha transform from gooey lover to bloody killer. Her determination to establish herself in the music industry is palpable, and she’s taking notes from the new wave of empowered women in pop who speak their minds freely and subvert the commercialised male gaze. “I've been learning to trust my instincts, and to put more merit on my taste and what I enjoy,” she says.
“My band is super strong, and I just love them all to bits,” she says fondly, speaking about the all-female brigade who’ll be backing her up at SXSW Sydney. Her festival gigs include a set at the Lord Gladstone (no SXSW wristbands required!) where she’s excited to make the most of the pub’s intimate setting, which locals will tell you is one of the best live music venues going.
People can expect a relatively playful show, maybe some bad stand-up meets big-pop-show-energy.
Asked which other artists she’s keen to check out at SXSW Sydney, she says: “I love Nick Ward. I think he's the next big thing.”
“Being on stage and singing live, it’s my first love,” says Ayesha. And that tracks – in 2019, the year after she earned her musical theatre degree from VCA, she made her stage debut in Yve Blake’s Fangirls at Belvoir St Theatre. (Fun fact: developed in Sydney, that original pop musical has found an enthusiastic new audience in London.) This is where she befriended co-stars James Majoos and Chika Ikogwe (you might know them as Darren Rivers and Jojo Obah) who would go on to encourage her to audition for Heartbreak High along with them – and the rest is Hartley High history. While Ayesha still has a lot of love for musicals, she doesn’t see any eight-show weeks in her near future.
“I'm gonna be perfectly candid, I didn't really feel like there was a place for me in Australian music theatre. Even though I did Fangirls, I think that was a real lightning in a bottle moment. I am on a different page maybe from the music theatre in this country. I love watching it, but I think my voice is very different. My acting style is quite different as well.
“When I was studying music theatre, there weren't really any People of Colour or [visibly] queer people in music theatre. So I think just psychologically, growing up, I didn't really envision myself in that world. If I was little and I saw the changing landscape of what it looks like now, maybe I would have [pursued it more]. But I'm excited to see the new generation.”
“If I were to ever return to music theatre, it would probably be in my thirties, and it would be for Hadestown,” she adds. (We’ll have fingers crossed that the incoming Sydney premiere of Hadestown runs for a good decade, then.)
Don’t be surprised if you see her back on a stage sometime soon, though. “I would love to do a play. That is another thing on my bucket list for maybe the next year or two,” says Ayesha, noting Belvoir and Queensland Theatre as companies that are doing really exciting stuff. She’d be in good dramatic company, fellow Heartbreak High stars have been treading the boards too – Will McDonald (who plays the loveable eshay, Ca$h) is set to star in The Talented Mr Ripley for Sydney Theatre Company in 2025, and Tom Wilson (who plays the scary eshay, Chook) recently turning heads in Sport for Jove’s Isolde & Tristan at the Old Fitz.
From acting to singing, Ayesha humbly says that all she’s doing is copying her older siblings. “My brother is actually probably the best actor […] He doesn’t want to pursue that, but he’s an incredible photographer, director and producer.” She also loves to watch her sister, Ava Madon, perform wherever possible (like recently, in the Australian debut of the viral musical hit Ride the Cyclone at the Hayes Theatre). So, talent runs in the family? Ayesha says: “My grandma was a singer, and my mum claims to be a singer. I'm yet to see it.”
When Ayesha gets a chance for some downtime in her hometown between juggling her acting career and her burgeoning music career, you can catch her grabbing brunch at Piña (the hip laneway cafe in Potts Point is known for its sourdough pancakes), tackling the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk, getting in some ocean time at a secret beach that her best friend James Majoos introduced to her (she promised not to spill, unfortunately), and pre-gaming for a film screening at the arthouse Dendy Newtown with funky snacks at Odd Culture, before kicking on with drinks at Uncanny.
If there’s one thing Ayesha has in common with the character she portrays on television, it’s that underdog spirit that just makes you root for her. During our chat, Ayesha shared something of what it's been like to figure out adulthood and navigate things like getting an ADHD diagnosis in your twenties alongside the triumphs and tribulations that come with being in the spotlight.
It's forced me to grow up really quickly, and to accept myself in a way that I never thought I'd have to.
"When the first season came out, I really struggled with anxiety, because I don't think I liked myself...I just couldn't handle being perceived. And I think the less control I have over that…the better, because it forces me to accept myself.”
Asked what she would tell her 16-year-old self, if she ever had the chance to go back in time, she was struck by emotion. After a beat, she said: “I think I would just give her the biggest hug and tell her to believe in herself, and that it's all gonna work out. I wouldn't tell her to change anything.”
“I went to a performing arts school, and I got knocked back a lot. No one really saw potential in me. Even in uni, I was always the talentless one. Now, if I’m ever teaching a class or meeting younger creatives, I'm always like ‘If you're an underdog, don't stress’. If you think that you've got something special to offer, then just trust that. And don't let anyone make you doubt yourself.”
Ayesha Madon is performing her music as part of the 2024 edition of SXSW Sydney (October 14–20). You can catch her playing at the Lord Gladstone on Wednesday, Oct 16 (9pm) and The Underground on Friday, Oct 18 (8.30pm). You can access these gigs and more with a Music Wristband ($140) or a SXSW Sydney Badge ($1,295–$1,995). Find out more about ticketing over here.
Thank you to the people & places involved in this cover shoot:
📍 Location: QT Sydney hotel
📸 Photographer: Anna Kucera
👗 Styling: Tori Knowles
💅 Hair & make-up: Alana Lucky
🖱 Design: Conor Mitchell & Jack Puglielli
👩💼 Talent management: Chloe Melick
🎤 Interview: Alannah Le Cross
🎥 Videography: Rebecca Hegedus
👩✈️ Editor: Alice Ellis
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