School is in session for the young cast of Netflix’s Heartbreak High reboot, with production on the eight-part series underway in Sydney.
Ayesha Madon, James Majoos, Chloe Hayden, and Asher Yasbincek lead the new generation of students at Hartley High, with the teen drama set to premiere on the streamer in 2022.
Madon plays Amerie, a student who becomes the school pariah following a discovery that also causes a public rift with her ride-or-die Harper (Yasbincek). With her new friends – outsiders Quinni (Hayden) and Darren (Majoos) – Amerie must repair her reputation, while navigating love, sex, and heartbreak.
The cast is rounded out by Thomas Weatherall, Josh Heuston, Will McDonald, Gemma Chua-Tran, Rachel House, Chika Ikogwe, Sherry-Lee Watson, Bryn Chapman-Parish, and Brodie Townsend.
Creator Hannah Carroll Chapman writes alongside Matthew Whittet, Marieke Hardy, Meyne Wyatt, Thomas Wilson White, and Natesha Somasundaram, with Megan Palinkas serving as script producer.
Gracie Otto is set up director, working with Neil Sharma, Jessie Oldfield, and Adam Murfet.
Chris Oliver-Taylor and Carly Heaton will serve as executive producers for Fremantle, which is producing with Dutch company NewBe, while Sarah Freeman is producer, and Anna Curtis is associate producer. Fremantle’s Ana Jimenez is a development executive on the series.
In a statement, Oliver-Taylor and Heaton said they couldn’t wait to “take Australia to the world” through the series.
“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,” they said.
Netflix announced it was commissioning a reboot of the teen drama in December 2020 after NewBe started shopping a contemporary remake at MIPCOM a year prior.
Netflix director of originals in Australia Que Minh Luu described the project as a “long-standing dream” for the streamer.
“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,” she said.
“Teenage (and adult) me would be equally thrilled to be friends with or socially rejected by this outrageously talented cast.”
Heartbreak High was developed with the assistance of Screen NSW.