About

THEA MCLEOD: CASTING DIRECTOR

Thea McLeod is one of Australia’s most respected casting directors, with a career dedicated to discovering, developing, and championing talent. She is the founder of McLeod Casting and is currently in her fourth year as President of the Casting Guild of Australia (CGA), where she works to support the profession, uphold industry standards, and create opportunities for emerging talent.

From 2011 until Neighbours wrapped in July 2025, Thea served as the show’s casting director. Over 14 years, she played a pivotal role in discovering and launching the careers of numerous Australian actors, many of whom are now household names both locally and internationally.

Her television credits span a broad range of drama and comedy, including Better Man (SBS), the telemovie Schapelle (Nine), Underbelly Files: The Man That Got Away (Screentime), City Homicide (Seven), and Whatever Happened to That Guy (Foxtel). In recent years, she has cast several high‑profile UK–Australia co‑productions for Channel 5 UK and Network 10, including Lie With Me, Riptide, Heat, and the upcoming thriller Imposter. She also collaborated with UK casting director Susie Parris to cast the role of Soames Forsyte out of Australia for the forthcoming UK/US reboot The Forsytes.

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.

Through McLeod Casting, Thea continues to champion bold voices, discover new talent, and bring distinctive Australian storytelling to screens around the world.

Georgia Rickards: CASTING ASSOCIATE

Georgia Rickards joined McLeod Casting in early 2018. Her credits include extras casting on the Logie-winning series Bloom Season 1. Georgia also worked as a Casting Assistant, Production Assistant and Extras casting on the Australian feature film, Measure for Measure, starring Hugo Weaving. In 2020 she continues to shine in her role as Casting Associate and Extras Casting on the Fremantle’s TV series,’ Lie With Me as well as the classic Australian TV show, Neighbours.  Georgia is extremely passionate about casting and is a proud member of the Casting Guild of Australia.