My Media Diet: The Wilds’ Mia Healey

In The Wilds, Amazon’s addictive, radical drama, Mia Healey plays pageant princess Shelby: the god-fearing, well-mannered daughter of a pastor and male conversion therapy group leader. She always knows the right thing to say, but behind her big smile and excessive optimism lies a secret that even she is too scared to face. Crumbling under the pressures of Texan society and its strict values, Shelby finds an unexpected way out.

Without spoiling too much, on the way to a women’s empowerment retreat, Healey’s Shelby and a group of other troubled teenage girls get caught up in a plane crash. Stranded on a mysterious island, their fight to survive is interrupted by a social experiment where their struggles are broadcast for the world to see.

22-year-old Healey, who was born in Sydney, has been at the heart of The Wilds’ for the show’s last two seasons. Having graduated from performing arts school, Healey was a hotel receptionist when she auditioned for the show. Immediately drawn to the role of Shelby, the actress felt compelled to go above and beyond the usual self-tape audition process. Instead, she hopped on a flight to audition in-person in Los Angeles – and the gamble paid off.

Having starred in The Wilds for only one and a half years, Healey has already amassed a legion of fans. A quick YouTube search reveals plenty of compilations of her character Shelby’s best moments, many of which depict her steamy on-screen romance with hot-headed Toni, played by Erana James.

Real life is far more glamorous for Healey than Shelby’s gruelling time on the island, but she still makes time for her small screen. Below, find out more about all the media she’s been consuming lately, from her favourite new Spotify artist to the new TV show she couldn’t stop bingeing.

The last article I found myself thinking about was…

An article about whether or not cranberry juice actually helps cure UTIs. I don’t think it’s true. The article said it could help prevent you from getting a UTI because of all the good things in cranberry juice, but if you already have an active one, the cranberry juice isn’t going to take it away.

The last new artist I discovered on Spotify was…

I probably should have already known about this artist, but No Mono. I was listening to them because a song of theirs was in The Wilds.

The last TikTok I sent to a friend was…

It’s so stupid. Me and Shannon Berry from the show send each other Twilight TikToks all the time. This one was really funny because she sent it to me and then I sent it to her, but I didn’t realise she had already sent it!

The last series I binged (or watched a lot of) was…

The Wilds, of course! And I didn’t binge it, but I have just started watching Selling Sunset. I’m not a huge binge watcher. I like spreading it out, trying new things and going from show to show.

The last Reddit thread I got sucked into was…

I’ve never gone on Reddit in my life! I actually am not quite sure what it is.

The last book I stayed awake reading was…

I haven’t finished it yet, but I just started reading A Little Life. I find it really intimidating when a book is genuinely, physically massive, but I’m getting into it now, its looking good. Shannon gave it to me for my birthday last year. I also recently read Matthew McConaughey’s Greenlights – such a good book.

The last new word I learned was…

I think the last may be ​“innocuous”. It means not harmful or offensive.

The last meme that made me laugh aloud was…