Thea McLeod is one of Australia’s most respected casting directors, known for her exceptional eye for talent and her strong relationships with actors and filmmakers.

For more than fourteen years, she was casting director of Neighbours for Fremantle, helping to launch and nurture generations of performers on one of Australia’s most enduring global series.

Her work spans television and feature film, with selected credits including Better Man, Schapelle, Underbelly Files: The Man That Got Away, City Homicide and Whatever Happened to That Guy. Her feature credits include Pawno, Spin Out, Emo the Musical, Summer Coda, Blinder, What If It Works and The Menkoff Method, as well as the Netflix original Measure for Measure, starring Hugo Weaving, which she also produced.

Thea has extensive experience across international co-productions for Channel 5 UK and Network 10, including Lie With Me, Riptide, Heat, and The Imposter. She also cast the lead role of Soames Forsyte in The Forsytes for Mammoth Screen alongside UK casting director Susie Parriss.

She recently cast the international feature A. Rimbaud, and the Jaggi Entertainment films Her Aussie Romance and Love on Deck, and is currently casting Poor Boy, directed by Jeffrey Walker, written by Matt Cameron, and executive produced by and starring Guy Pearce.

She is developing and producing a slate of projects including Mayfly (with Stephen Luby, Paul Ireland and Geoff Newton), Blind Beans and Absolution (with Paul Ireland and Geoff Newton), and the French-Australian co-production The Heart of a Pelican, written & directed by Elise McLeod.

Thea is in her fifth year as President of the Casting Guild of Australia and founded the AACTA Young Stars initiative.