Aussie actor touts ‘exciting’ Gold Coast festival
Chloe Hayden hopes to bring talent together and foster broader storytelling, as she takes on the role of ambassador for a celebration of the Australian screen.
Actor Chloe Hayden is helping shape the future of Australian screen, joining the 2027 AACTA Festival as an ambassador.
The Heartbreak High star hopes the event will help bring local actors and filmmakers together, creating opportunities to share ideas and celebrate homegrown stories.
She believes Australia’s entertainment industry still “feels quite young”, so there is enormous potential for it to grow.
“Being able to have the opportunity to connect and use everyone’s stories and perspectives, to continue to build an industry that we can look back on and be proud of … it’s really exciting,” she said.
Hayden joins fellow ambassadors Slow Horses actor Christopher Chung, Heartbreak High co-star Gemma Chua-Tran and Queensland-born actor George Pullar, reflecting the diversity and growing international reach of Australian screen talent.
As a disability advocate, Hayden said it was important that disabled people were portrayed as fully rounded characters rather than being defined by their differences.
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Having grown up without seeing herself represented on television, she said playing Quinni in Heartbreak High allowed her to share her story with a much wider audience and helped people have a “genuine” understanding of autism.
“And outside of the industry, it’s opened doors for more young autistic people to see themselves in a light that makes sense for them,” she said.
But while she has welcomed the progress, Hayden believes the industry still has “much further to go”.
“A lot of the time when we see a character of a minority, the character’s job is to represent that minority in that show or in that film,” she said.
“I think it’s so exciting when we look at disabled characters and they’re playing the arsehole. They’re not there to be the token disabled person.”
The 29-year-old’s own experience growing up in a rural community also shaped her appreciation for opportunities to connect with other creatives.
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Having struggled to find like-minded people and opportunities in the entertainment industry while growing up, Hayden said AACTA Festival helped bridge that gap.
“Australia is such a large place – and so separated from each other – it can be really tricky to connect with people,” she said.
“So to have this festival where people can connect with each other and can make opportunities and to meet people that they otherwise might not be able to is really exciting.”
The five-day festival will return to the Gold Coast from February 3 to 7, offering audiences a behind-the-scenes look at some of the biggest productions.
Emmy Award-winning costume designer Molly Rogers, whose credits include Sex and the City and Ugly Betty, will take audiences inside the wardrobe of The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Australian director Patrick Hughes will discuss the making of Netflix hit War Machine, while filmmaker Justin Kurzel will break down key scenes from Snowtown, Macbeth and Nitram.
Actors Liv Hewson and Courtney Eaton will lead a discussion about Yellowjackets as it enters its final season.
The festival will also host the world premiere of the television series Tough Love, alongside a red-carpet world premiere for Queensland-made crime series Fortitude Valley.
Beyond the screenings and celebrity appearances, the festival will focus on developing the next generation of Australian screen talent.
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