Ada Nicodemou has created the children’s book she would have wanted in her youth.
As a child of Greek heritage growing up in Australia, and with big dreams of being an actress, there were no books or TV shows at the time she could identify with.
The Home and Away star has brought something new to the junior fiction market in Australia, “loosely” leaning on her life, cultural upbringing and journey to Home and Away stardom.
Although the project started as a book to inspire young girls to be kinder to one another, her own reflections of her childhood led to what is now the Mia Megastar series.
“I wanted to write a book about Greek culture and how I really got into acting,” she tells 7NEWS.com.au.
While touching on her acting journey and encouraging readers to “follow their dreams”, the book leans on her Greek heritage and some of the special cultural traditions.
“It gives a bit of insight into how I grew up,” she says of the first book in the series, which hit shelves on Wednesday.
“I think that’s so important (to represent Greek culture) because for me growing up, I guess I even pooh-poohed my culture a little bit, because I didn’t know anyone who was Greek, and you don’t want to be different.
“It was not represented anywhere on TV or in books.
“I love the fact that now there are young kids out there who can read this book and go, ‘Oh we do Greek church as well’, so I think that’s great.
“There are also people who don’t know anything about our culture and so it’s a bit of education into Greek culture.”
Along with her heritage, it revisits one of the pivotal moments of Nicodemou’s life when she and her Year 7 class went to watch a production of the Rise And Fall Of Little Voice at Sydney Theatre Company.
It was the first time the future star was exposed to the performing arts and she was instantly “blown away”.
“I remember thinking, ‘I’ve got to do this!’ I don’t know how.”
Growing up in the Sydney suburb of Minto, in a migrant family with zero acting connections, Nicodemou believed it to be a difficult goal to accomplish.
But she knew that “somehow, I’ve got to be on stage”.
Mia Megastar also has something for the Home and Away fans, with Nicodemou laughing that the book “sort of pokes fun at Home and Away because the characters all love watching the show”.
However, this was not too dissimilar from her upbringing, having also been a major Summer Bay fan throughout her childhood.
“I went to an audition for Home and Away years ago. I saw an ad to be a character on Home and Away, and I ended up getting like really far down into the audition process,” she recalls of her teenaged years.
“That’s also in the book a little bit too. I hope everyone has a little giggle about that.”
But that character was not meant to be, and Nicodemou later landed the role of Leah Patterson, who she has been playing since 2000.
While Nicodemou is an avid reader, she was hesitant at first about writing a book.
But when the idea of a children’s book came to her, she was all in.
She even got to include characters inspired by her mother, brother and 11-year-old son Jonas.
“It gave me a chance to reminisce about my stories, so that was a lot of fun,” she says.
“I’m really proud of it, it’s a cute story.”
The book is the first in a series, with the second book expected in June followed by the third in October 2024.