The kids are alright in Netflix’s Heartbreak High revival

Netflix has revived one of Australia’s best shown series from 1990s, but it’s directed at one group of Australians.

If there’s one thing the young actors in Netflix’s revival of Heartbreak High knows better than the writers, it’s how teenagers speak.

They’d often find words in the script which may have been a little overzealous in trying to capture the spirit of youth. Thank god they were on hand to set the record straight.

“The amount of slang they would put in and we’d be like, ‘what is that?’ and they’re like ‘it’s slang’, and I’m like, ‘no one says that word’,” Heartbreak High’s Chloe Hayden told news.com.au.

The Heartbreak High writers had an invaluable resource on their hands – a group of creative young people who are plugged into youth culture – and they knew how to harness that power.

Hayden continued, “We absolutely had an input in how we spoke, and the words that we spoke, and the slang that we used, and the things that are quintessential Aussie culture for us, because it has changed in the past 10, 20, 30 years. This is what Australian culture is now.

James Majoos, Chloe Hayden and Ayesha Madon on Heartbreak High. Picture: Netflix

“At times [the writers] would be like ‘write that down, write that down, write that down!’.

Co-star James Majoos chimed in, “We were really lucky in the amount of collaboration and play we got to have.”

It’s not that the Heartbreak High cast were bossing around the writers, it’s that everyone involved intrinsically knew the key to a successful teen series is to be authentic.

If you make TV for young people and it’s so clearly written by people whose formative years were decades ago, the audience can smell a rat. Or worse yet, they can smell a Geriatric Millennial, a Gen X-er or, heavens forbid, a Baby Boomer.

The original series of Heartbreak High debuted in 1994 and ran until 1999. A spin-off from the 1993 movie The Heartbreak Kid, the show was renowned for being gritty and grounded.

They were having sex, they were taking drugs and they were even, shockingly, sometimes culturally diverse. In other words, they were Australian teens.

“The show has such a legacy and it’s so important in the Australian storytelling DNA,” Majoos, who plays the biracial, non-binary Darren, said.

Heartbreak High is a revival of the original 1990s series. Picture: Netflix

“[But] when was the last time we had a distinct Australian [teen] show? I mean, we’ve got amazing teen shows today. There’s so much amazing young adult stuff out there but we haven’t had an Aussie one in so long that covers topics like this.

“It doesn’t shy away from that deeper stuff, but it also has a lot of heart and it’s wholesome and campy and cartoonish. We always say we never really got to see characters like the ones we get to play on screen before in an Australian context, so this is dope.

“The original had its own context and this has its own context. It’s more current. The original really reflected issues of that time and we’re trying to do that in this incarnation as well.”

Heartbreak High’s ensemble cast is led by Ayesha Madon, whose character Amerie sets things in motion in the eight-episode series. When Amerie’s best friend Harper dumps her, she finds like-minded souls in Quinni (Hayden) and Darren (Majoos).

The trio take on the trials and tribulations of school, family and young love – but with each other. It’s an uplifting portrayal of friendship and kinship, the joys of finding your tribe.

More significant than getting the slang right was getting the experience of being autistic right.

Hayden and her character Quinni are both autistic, but the choice for the latter was only after the former was cast. Originally, the character was written as neuro-divergent but after Hayden came onboard, it was changed.

Chloe Hayden brought her lived experience to the role. Picture: Netflix

“I didn’t see myself growing up and it’s time people see themselves. Throughout the entire process, I’d get a call and they would be like, ‘What do you think about this?’. And I would tell them that it wasn’t an autism thing. ‘You only think that’s what autism is like because of what you’ve seen and may hear of autism, which isn’t real.”

The writers and producers would ask Hayden how it be instead and when she told them, they’d agree.

“The whole writing team were very collaborative.

“I have been told by multiple people in this industry that I won’t have a job if I can’t shut my mouth about the representation that we’re not seeing,” Hayden continued. “And being part of Heartbreak High and having the team say they needed my input, [I know] I’m allowed to have a voice here.

“It’s very, very not what I was expecting in this industry based on past experiences and I really hope we see a lot more of it.”

Authenticity is the watchword, whether that’s reflecting the experience of an autistic teenager, a non-binary kid or even just how kids speak.

Ayesha Madon as Amerie. Picture: Netflix

But if there’s going to be any moral panic from a more age-advanced crowd, a la Euphoria, the ultra-cool cast of Heartbreak High have no qualms about it.

“I would like to say to them, what did you do in your youth?” Madon asked with a sly smile.

Hayden jumped in, “But also, it’s not for them. It’s raw, it’s real and it’s honest. Teenagers have to be able to watch this and go, ‘huh, OK, I see myself in that’. That’s what it’s about.”

Majoos was more diplomatic, interjecting that there is something in Heartbreak High for everyone.

And that’s true, even for older generations that are bemused by TikTok trends or had to google what an “eshay” is, Heartbreak High’s vivid portrait of Australian teens has dramatic, entertainment and even sociological value.

But it’ll mean much more to the kids who are still living through all the heightened joys and heartache of those heady teen years, and exactly what that looks and feels like in Australia in 2022.

Heartbreak High is for them. This unvarnished experience of Australian teens is for them – and not their parents.

“It’s for the new generation,” Madon said. “In order to honestly reflect the youth of today, if that makes people uncomfortable, then so be it.”

Heartbreak High is streaming now on Netflix

Originally published as The kids are alright in Netflix’s Heartbreak High revival