Thea McLeod is one of Australia’s most respected casting directors and is currently in her fourth year as President of the Casting Guild of Australia (CGA). Now in her 14th year casting Neighbours, she has been instrumental in discovering and nurturing a new wave of Australian talent, many of whom are now seen on screens around the world.

Thea’s television credits span a wide range of acclaimed productions. These include Better Man for SBS, the controversial telemovie Schapelle for Channel Nine, and Underbelly Files: The Man That Got Away for Screentime. She also cast City Homicide for the Seven Network and the comedy series Whatever Happened to That Guy for Foxtel. In recent years, Thea has led casting on several UK–Australia co-productions for Channel 5 UK and Network Ten, including Lie With Me, Riptide, Heat, and the upcoming thriller Imposter. Most recently, she cast the role of Soames Forsyte out of Australia for the forthcoming UK/US reboot of the iconic PBS series The Forsyte Saga.Her feature film credits include the award-winning Pawno, the Netflix Original Measure for Measure, Spin Out, Emo the Musical, Summer Coda, Blinder, What If It Works, The Menkoff Method, and the recent U.S. feature A. Rimbaud.

Thea has also expanded into producing. A career highlight was casting and producing the Netflix Original Measure for Measure, which earned multiple AACTA nominations and was praised by critic David Stratton as “a powerful and timely film, brilliantly cast.” She also cast and produced the acclaimed feature film Pawno, which received 18 international awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Picture at Cannes Cinema des Antipodes, and six AACTA nominations across the acting categories.

Thea is currently producing two major projects with director and producer Paul Ireland: Mayfly, an eight-part, slow-burn Australian noir thriller set across two timelines in the Snowy Mountains, produced alongside Stephen Luby; and She Shines, a powerful feature documentary addressing domestic violence, produced and directed by Paul Ireland, with Eddie McGuire as executive producer through Jam TV.

As founder of McLeod Casting, Thea continues to champion bold new voices and elevate Australian storytelling.