Heartbreak High star shock admission: ‘I never really saw people who looked like me’

Ayesha Madon has opened up on her childhood in Sydney, the Heartbreak High star stating she never saw ‘people who looked like me’ represented in the media.

The thought of seeing herself on the cover of any magazine was unimaginable for Heartbreak High star Ayesha Madon when she was a child.

“Growing up I never really saw people who looked like me or even anyone who wasn’t the conventional definition of beauty, I never got to see that on magazine covers,” Madon, 26, told Confidential.

Ayesha Madon for Cosmo magazine. Picture: Supplied by Cosmo

“I feel like my journey has been super unexpected, maybe because of my socio-economic background and my cultural background and kind of my childhood was not extraordinary. My parents don’t know anything about performing or the industry or anything like that, they were caterers out of necessity and they didn’t even know how to cook, it was just the only business they could afford to try and put us through school.”

Madon has risen to the local A-list off the back of playing Amerie Wadia on Netflix’s reimagining of Heartbreak High.

Born and raised in Sydney, her parents are emigrants from India.

She is the latest cover star for Cosmopolitan Australia magazine.

Ayesha models for the mag. Picture: Supplied by Cosmos

Ayesha Madon’s cover shot. Picture: Supplied by Cosmos

“I’ve got crazy impostor syndrome so to be on the cover is the biggest pinch me moment ever. It feels like a real milestone for me and a real barometer in my head of life changing quite drastically. It is massive for me and for my younger self as well.”

There was a point in Madon’s career, right before Heartbreak High, that she nearly gave up altogether.

“This industry is one that is so run on validation,” she explained.

“Being realistic, it can be really hard to believe in yourself past a certain point if you are being told something else. I wasn’t getting callbacks … after a while of course it is going to do something to your psyche.”

Madon stars in Heartbreak High. Picture: Supplied by Cosmos

The third and final season of Heartbreak High is soon to begin production, after which Madon will look at other opportunities here and abroad.

“I think the work coming out of the US is super exciting so I am definitely keen to step into that world if it will have me.”