Geraldine Viswanathan is Ready for Her Closeup
The actor — who has won acclaim for her roles in “Hala” and “Blockers” — takes on her first romantic comedy in "The Broken Hearts Gallery."
Geraldine Viswanathan first burst into the Hollywood spotlight with her role in 2018 teen comedy Blockers — as one of the trio of high school girls who make a pact to lose their virginities on prom night.
Since then, the Australian-born Viswanathan, who is the daughter of a Swiss mother and Indian father, has quickly gained acclaim for the depth and emotion she brings to her roles. Her performance in writer-director Minhal Baig’s Hala (2019) as a Pakistani American teenager who longs to rebel was “sublime.” Earlier this year, she also starred with Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney as a high school newspaper reporter determined to get to the heart of a Long Island school board’s embezzlement scandal in Bad Education.
But it wasn’t until The Broken Hearts Gallery — which came out on September 11 — that the 25-year-old Viswanathan played the lead in a romantic comedy, a moment she had dreamed of since her student days at the Hunter School of the Performing Arts in New South Wales, which she attended to fulfill her childhood dream of going into acting (she knew early on — from age 5 — that she wanted to perform). “It really just felt so special, especially since it is set in New York,” Viswanathan told The Juggernaut. “I mean, who doesn’t want to live that fantasy?”
Since The Broken Hearts Gallery’s release, critics have hailed Viswanathan as one of the industry’s rising stars. Her star turn comes in the kind of film that has launched a whole slew of superstars before her — including Julia Roberts, Renee Zellweger, and Sandra Bullock.