How Heartbreak High star found connection through playing dress-ups
'I don't even know if I could count how many teddy bears I have, probably hundreds. It's ridiculous. Any time I go anywhere that has teddy bears, a theme park, a zoo, an aquarium, I will be purchasing one and I choose it solely based on how soft it is.'
It's no surprise then that as guest curator for the first exhibition in new program Powerhouse Materials, vintage teddy bears and an Akira Isogawa bear backpack are among Hayden's picks to display. The actor and disability rights advocate dug through the museum's archives, which include more than 500,000 objects, to come up with her 17 favourite things. Her chosen pieces focus on textiles (the next curator in the program will be children's author Andy Griffiths looking at paper later this year) with Hayden offering a neurodiverse perspective as an autistic person also diagnosed with ADHD.
'Textiles have been such an important part in being able to express my identity,' she says. 'I would always play dress-up in different situations. I grew up selectively verbal and would struggle to speak to the people around me and to connect to the surroundings, so being able to play dress-up was how I was able to find that connection.'
Powerhouse Materials: Textiles also offers a glimpse into Hayden's love of horses and cows, with the actor having ridden horses since she was four years old and represented Australia as a professional cowgirl. To show her affinity with the animals, included in the exhibition is a rocking horse, a miniature set of armour for a horse and knight, a cow robot and – her personal favourite – a trio of cow figurines she has nicknamed Margaret, Bertha and Penelope.
Best known for her breakthrough role as autistic student Quinni in Netflix's global hit Heartbreak High, a reimagining of the 1990s teen drama, Hayden recently wrapped up filming the still-to-be-released third and final season of the show. The series has received several AACTA Awards and an International Emmy, while Hayden herself this month received a Silver Logie nomination for best supporting actress. Hayden describes Heartbreak High 's approaching end as 'bittersweet'.
'I grew up never seeing myself represented and I found my representation in Disney princesses and fantasy characters. I could never see myself in a real person. Getting the opportunity to be someone who I so desperately needed when I was young is exciting. I receive messages every single day from people who have watched the show and say that they now understand themselves better or their child or friend or sibling or student a bit better. People have gotten their autism diagnoses because of Quinni. Genuine representation is literally life-saving.'
For Hayden, the Powerhouse exhibition is a chance for fans of her acting or popular social media presence to get an even more authentic glimpse of her.
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