After a few false starts, Netflix Australia appears to have finally cracked the magic formula and produced a globally successful new drama.
The world is soaking up the culture of the reimagined Australian High School drama with the new Heartbreak High hitting #6 on the list of most watched TV shows globally on Netflix, racking up (not off) 18,250,000 hours viewed in just the last week alone.
The series is currently ranked in the top 10 most watched shows on Netflix in 43 countries around the world, including the United States of America and Europe, as well as Africa, Asia, and of course, right here in Australia, where it has been sitting pretty in the top 10 since its release on service on September 14th.
The eight-episode series was inspired by the original ‘90s series, but totally reimagined for a new generation.
Heartbreak High is a high-octane ride into the minds and lives of a group of Australian teenagers.
The discovery of a secret map that charts all the hook-ups in the school year makes its architect, AMERIE an instant pariah and causes a mysterious and very public rift with her ride-or-die HARPER.
In an effort to set the hypersexual students straight, the school forces them into a Sexual Literacy Program. With her new friends, outsiders, QUINNI and DARREN, Amerie must repair her reputation, whilst navigating love, sex, and heartbreak.
INTRODUCING THE HEARTBREAK HIGH CLASS OF 2022:
- AMERIE (Ayesha Madon) [She/Her] (The Moth Effect, Fangirls, Romeo and Juliet) is whip smart and outwardly brash, a working-class girl with an enormous heart and an even bigger mouth.
- DARREN (James Majoos) [They/Them/He/Him] (Fangirls, Grand Horizons, Vivid White) is the warmest snarky shit-stirrer you’re ever likely to meet. Whilst they are outwardly brash, inwardly Darren fears they are a hard person to love.
- QUINNI (Chloe Hayden) [She/Her] (Jeremy The Dud, Sister From The South, Embrace Kids) is all literal and lateral, a brain trying to connect to a body and a heart. Besties with Darren, she’s outrageous, raw, and sometimes a little bit wrongtown. Quinni is autistic, and a master of imitation and masking.
- HARPER (Asher Yasbincek) [She/Her] (The Heights, Rams, How To Please A Woman) is the person in High School everyone is a little afraid of (even the teachers). To be in Harper’s orbit is to feel kinda special – getting into that orbit is the hard part.
- MALAKAI (Thomas Weatherall) [He/Him] (RFDS, All My Friends Are Racist) is athletic and full of bravado. A Bundjalung boy, and new at Hartley High, he’s a basketball natural, hates sitting still, and makes friends easily.
- DUSTY (Josh Heuston) [He/Him] (Dive Club, Thor: Love and Thunder, Finally Me) is so gorgeous it hurts. He’s the bass player in an indie rock band and has slept with half the girls – and even a few boys – at school, but underneath the hot aesthetic he’s just as insecure as the rest of us mere humans.
- CA$H (Will McDonald) [He/Him] (Riot, Home and Away, Young Rock) is a drug dealer, food delivery driver, pet duck owner, eshay. Beneath the mullet, Ca$h is a complex young man quietly struggling with his identity.
- SASHA (Gemma Chua-Tran) [She/Her/They/Them] (Diary of an Uber Driver, Mustangs FC, Back of the Net ) is the coolest, sexiest, and chiccest lesbian at the school. She comes across as well-read and highly nuanced, but is it all surface level?
- WOODSY (Rachel House) [She/Her] (Moana, Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) is the Principal at Hartley High. She likes to think of herself as a woke ally, but the students say she’s more of a “Karen”.
- JOJO (Chika Ikogwe) [She/Her] (Fangirls, The Moth Effect) is an English teacher at Hartley High. When the school is mired in controversy, she volunteers to tackle the issue head on.
- MISSY (Sherry-Lee Watson) [She/Her] (On the Town, Mongrel) is much more introspective than she lets on. She’s trying to find “her person” but it’s tough at Hartley High.
- SPIDER (Bryn Chapman-Parish) [He/Him] (Mr Inbetween) is a sprinkling of incel, dickhead and class clown rolled into one.
- ANT (Brodie Townsend) [He/Him] is affable, big-hearted, and the kind of guy who’ll always look out for you when you get too wasted at a party.
Chris Oliver Taylor (Glitch) and Carly Heaton (The End) will serve as Executive Producers, Sarah Freeman (Why Are You Like This) as Producer, and Anna Curtis (Back to the Rafters) as Associate Producer.
Gracie Otto (Bump) is set up director, along with Neil Sharma (The Cry), Jessie Oldfield & Adam Murfet (Why Are You Like This) .
Created by Hannah Carroll Chapman (The Heights) and Script Producer is Megan Palinkas (Itch). Chapman, Matthew Whittet (Girl Asleep), Marieke Hardy (Seven Types of Ambiguity), Meyne Wyatt (City of Gold), Thomas Wilson White (The Greenhouse), and Natesha Somasundaram (The Unlisted) will serve as Writers.
Chris Oliver-Taylor and Carly Heaton, Executive Producers, Fremantle, said:
“Heartbreak High allowed a generation of Aussie teens, us included, to see themselves represented on TV for the first time, it was brash, fun, uniquely Australian and an international hit.
Through our great partnership with Netflix and our amazing cast and crew we can’t wait to take Australia to the world once again.”
Que Minh Luu, Netflix’s Director of Content in Australia and New Zealand, said:
“Making Heartbreak High for today’s generation of Australians has been a long-standing dream. We couldn’t be more stoked to be starting production on a show that means so much to so many of us, with a cohort of such incredible breakthrough talent stepping up both on screen and off. Teenage (and adult) me would be equally thrilled to be friends with or socially rejected by this outrageously talented cast.”
Heartbreak High is developed with the assistance of Screen NSW.
