Aisha Dee has grown up on our television screens, telling stories through her characters. Now, she wants to share her own
photographY Tim Ashton/After Winter.
STYLING Naomi Smith.
HAIR Laura Mazikana.
MAKEUP Cherry Cheung/Vivien’s Creative.
MANICURE Kanitta Choosuk/Saunders & Co.
CREATIVE DIRECTION Rebecca Rhodes.
ART DIRECTION Jamie Richards.
PRODUCTION Robyn Fay-Perkins.
Gucci top, $2580, pants, $2200, shoes, $1890, earrings, $935, necklace, $800, and bracelet, $1600.
“To me it makes sense that we’re all coming to this collective decision that we’ve had enough, and that it’s time for us to actually speak up and demand better for ourselves”
Hermès jacket, $47,250, top, $4725, and shorts, $4515; Michael Hill earrings, $2299 each, necklace, $16,999, and ring, $2499.
photographY TIM ASHTON
STYLING NAOMI SMITH
Words Alexandra English
“Women deserve to live lives free from pain. Women deserve to be believed when they say they are in pain”
Left: Erik Yvon coat, $12,550. Right: Erik Yvon jumpsuit, $4010; Christian Louboutin shoes, $1475; stylist’s briefs.
SHE'S THE
BOLD
TYPE
W
But Aisha isn’t here for the fun of it, and she is not promoting a new film. She’s here because she has a message. Aisha has endometriosis, meaning that for the past decade while she has been prolifically acting and making music, she’s also been silently suffering with relentless chronic pain. The 32-year old says she’s now in remission, which gives her the energy and perspective needed to speak out about the frustrations behind women’s pain and how little is understood about our bodies. Swisse Wellness recently tapped Aisha to be the brand’s Women’s Health campaign advocate, putting her face and message to a range of products that support women’s health at every stage of life. Think supplements for vaginal health, PMS relief, and hormone and perimenopause support. It’s an alignment that feels incredibly natural, says Aisha. “Women deserve to live lives free from pain. Women deserve to be believed when they say they are in pain. Women deserve to be supported, and I think the way to do that is to start a collective conversation, and I love that Swisse is down to do that with me.” (Swisse is indeed down to do that with her, with managing director Swati Prasad calling for people and businesses to head to wearehysterical.com.au to advocate for women’s health initiatives.) It’s admirable that Aisha is using her platform to raise awareness of the often painful banality of being a woman. It’s a vulnerable position to be in, letting the world know that you’ve been enduring debilitatingly painful periods, have been operated on over and over again, and have been in the depths of despair trying to find solutions only to come up empty-handed. To enter your medical history into the public record and be asked about it again and again in articles such as this. But Aisha knows this is the way to create change, to galvanise women and researchers and the medical industry until we are listened to, studied and our pain resolved.
Writing this profile with The Bold Type on in the background seemed like a good idea at first. But the sparkling, fizzy old-favourite series about working at a glossy women’s magazine, much like this one, starring Aisha Dee, the subject of this article, quickly proves to be distractingly small-m meta. In case you need a refresh: Aisha, as Kat Edison, has worked her way up at Scarlet magazine from assistant to writer. In the opening scenes, we see her in a board meeting (with a very convincing American accent) pushing for a “lesbian Muslim artist” story not to be dropped. It’s difficult to look away and get back to my assignment, which is a problem because – like the women at Scarlet – I also have a deadline. Within seconds of seeing her on screen, it’s clear Kat’s here for a good time – sneaking champagne into the fashion cupboard to share with her co-worker besties – but she’s also not here to mess around. She cares about women: their stories, their art, their plights in conflict zones across the world. She says what she thinks and refuses to be silent in the face of the patriarchy. And within seconds of meeting Aisha Dee, it’s clear she’s the same. The Australian actor, who first appeared on our screens in The Saddle Club in 2008 and had her breakout moment with The Bold Type in 2017, is – in a word – lovely. She’s game to try every outfit our fashion director has hanging on the rack, even when she needs to leave in 10 minutes to catch a plane (check out the Louis Vuitton look for a study in how not to have airport anxiety); she pauses her interview when someone arrives at the studio (“Sorry, I just need to say hello”); and enthusiastically poses in front of the camera. The unanimous feedback after Aisha has headed off to her flight back to Los Angeles is: “She looks like a model!”
Left: Miu Miu dress, $8300, and hat, $1690. Right: Prada shirt, $2950, skirt, $20,000, stockings, $1880, shoes, POA, and cufflinks, $1680.
In sharing her story, Aisha joins the ranks of a number of A-list women who are sick of staying quiet about women’s health. Among them, Lena Dunham, Dolly Parton, Halsey, Chrissy Teigen and, closer to home, Bindi Irwin, who posted on Instagram in March to share that she’d had more than 50 endometriosis lesions cut from her body in the past three years. “I recently listened to Lena Dunham’s Famesick [a memoir about fame and chronic illness], and there were lots of things in it that felt so specific [to Lena], but I also had experienced very intimately,” Aisha says. “It was really comforting for me. There’s something really special about feeling community. I believe in hive-mind stuff. Women, we have this womb that is connected to all life and all living things; we are the creators of the universe – really, we’re incredible. To me it makes sense that we’re all coming to this collective decision that we’ve had enough, and that it’s time for us to actually speak up and demand better for ourselves.” Like the women before her, Aisha has created an impressive amount of work while enduring chronic pain. Since The Bold Type, there has been the best-friend revenge movie Sissy, and the rom-com Look Both Ways with Lili Reinhart, both released in 2022. She also had starring roles in Watching You, the 2025 series about a woman trying to uncover the voyeur who’s been watching her affair before they blow up her life; and Safe Home, an SBS series about a woman who starts working at a family violence centre. That one was particularly challenging, Aisha says, because she struggled to come out of character at the end of each day. “I started not being able to tell the difference between dreams and reality for a while,” she says. “But I love that show, it’s probably one of my favourites.”
Then, of course, there was last year’s Apple Cider Vinegar. It was about the cancer scammer Belle Gibson (played by Kaitlyn Dever, with an impressive Australian accent), but was also a commentary on how the line between wellness, social media and medicine can blur when women feel there’s a gap in their health information and go looking for answers in dubious places. Next up is a series that Aisha describes as “really gay”, called Overcompensating. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to be gay on television,” she says. “I’m excited for people to be able to watch a really beautiful, fun, queer, joyful story. And I’m excited to take a nap,” she adds, laughing. One thing she’s learnt from pain is to take rest more seriously. For now, that means “taking time in my own space, driving my shitty Honda Civic. I do a lot of visualisation, and also just being around loved ones, having cuddles, laying down, dilly-dallying. Those are my coping strategies.” But the truth is, she won’t really rest until women are heard. “What feels important to me is to communicate that you know your body best, nobody knows it like you do, so trust yourself and advocate for yourself and know that there are medical professionals out there who want to advocate for you too. You might just need to look a little harder for them.”
Visit wearehysterical.com.au for more details.
Left: Louis Vuitton jacket, $6300, shirt, $3750, and skirt, $4700; Christian Louboutin shoes, $1475. Right: Dior top, $5700, and skirt, $5300.
Gucci dress, $6150, bralette, POA, shoes, $1890, earrings, $935, and bracelet, $1600; stylist’s briefs.