Bad Behaviour’s Yerin Ha on triggering high school memories

Whether you were the victim or the perpetrator or even just a bystander, this new streaming series could trigger some memories.

Yerin Ha and Jana McKinnon in Bad Behaviour. Picture: Stan

Have you ever wondered that if you weren’t bullied in high school that maybe you were the bully? That maybe you were the villain in someone else’s story?

Of course, the thorny dynamics of high school politics doesn’t operate in clear binaries, so somewhere between bullied and the bully are casts of enablers, onlookers and those trying their hardest to not be noticed.

Australian drama Bad Behaviour taps into those potentially triggering memories. It even comes with a warning.

Set at a private girls school’s wilderness camp, it’s a probing dive into the depths of how cruel young girls can be to each other, and the lasting effects of that trauma years later.

“The show is universal and it hits a spot for every person, whether they be victim, perpetrator, a bystander or a witness,” actor Yerin Ha said. Ha has the challenging job of portraying Alice Kang, a scholarship kid who’s the target of vitriolic bullying from the queen bee and her sycophantic hive.

Bad Behaviour comes with a trigger warning. Picture: Stan

Ha said the experience of playing this character brought on some questions about what she went through in her life, and why she’s made the choices she has.

“It really made me reflect,” she told news.com.au. “Is X, Y or Z the reason why I go about my life in a certain way, or the reason why I make my choices. Whether I say, ‘oh, sorry, sorry’ because of events and situations that happened at important moments in my adolescent years.”

Ha spent part of her high school years at a girls’ school in Sydney and it’s an experience she hasn’t “quite unpicked properly yet”.

“Everything is so heightened in those years. You’re figuring out your sexuality, your morals, your values, who you want to become, your career. All your senses are exploding.

“And an all-girls school is interesting. It definitely feels like it’s almost like Lord of the Flies every day. There’s this power play, who’s got more power, who’s got the gossip.”

Ha then auditioned for a performing arts school in South Korea, which allowed her to explore both her creative ambitions and her cultural heritage. After returning to Sydney and graduating from NIDA, she landed role in a Sydney Theatre Company production of Lord of the Flies.

But her biggest run on the board would be the Halo TV series. Among the producers are Steven Spielberg’s production company, Amblin. She’s currently filming the second season in Europe.

Ha is balancing opportunities at home in Australia with international productions such as Halo. With more projects being greenlit, there are more roles for actors who look like her.

“There’s that saying that Australia is five or 10 years behind, unfortunately,” she explained. “At times [multicultural representation] can feel tokenistic, I won’t lie.

Ha on the set of Bad Behaviour. Picture: Stan

“But I do think it’s changing. Like Heartbreak High was a really great example of something that felt genuine and really celebrated all identities and sexualities and backgrounds.

“I don’t know if it’s because I had set my goal in international productions that I’m relating to [those characters] more in a deep way.

“Bad Behaviour is the first project where I thought, ‘Playing Alice feels like it hits a really deep spot for me’. So it is changing, it’s slow.

“You need the right people, like producers, to see that there’s merit in telling stories outside of crocodiles and shotguns and stuff.”

One of those people is Bad Behaviour director Corrie Chen, whom Ha was particularly excited to work with.

“I was really aware of her work. She’s an Asian director in Australia, what a gift to be able to work with someone like her and create something together.”

Ha had seen Chen’s work on SBS historical drama New Gold Mountain, which was set within the Chinese community in Victorian goldfields. Ha’s friend Mabel Li was one of the leads on New Gold Mountain, and so Ha already had the inside information on what being on set with Chen would be like.

“It’s that sense of community,” Ha said. “It’s like there’s this small circle of Asian creators and artists in Australia, and just being able to connect with one another is a real goal of mine because we should be able to lift each other up to succeed in this industry.”

Bad Behaviour is streaming now on Stan