CGA President Thea McLeod: ‘Mental Health Is So Important in This Industry’

Thea McLeod is a renowned Naarm-based (Melbourne) casting director, celebrated for her work on productions such as Better Man, City Homicide, Heat, Lie With Me, Pawno, Riptide, Schapelle, Spin Out, Summer Coda, Underbelly Files, Measure for Measure (which she also produced), and, of course, the long-running series Neighbours (since 2011). Throughout her impressive career, she has consistently championed emerging Australian talent, while also collaborating with international productions casting Down Under.

McLeod recently served as a judge for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Young Stars National Youth Casting Call and is entering her fourth year as the president of the Casting Guild of Australia (CGA).

McLeod took time to chat about everything from standing out in auditions to the importance of mental wellbeing — and what’s next for her after Neighbours.

Insights: Lessons From Thea McLeod

Bring your individuality to each role; casting directors value authenticity and want to see what makes you different.

Focus on the process, trust yourself, and seek support when needed; the industry is tough, but resilience and confidence are key.

Master the technical and presentation aspects of self-taping, as excellent tapes help you stand out in today’s casting process.

You’ve cast so many iconic Aussie productions. What excites you most about assembling a cast today?

As a casting director, I absolutely love to discover new talent and watch talent grow. That’s the fun and exciting part of my job — seeing where people start and where they get to and watching them jump into the international market. I’ve been really lucky because I’ve cast productions like Neighbours, where we can find people at young ages and different stages of their careers, and give them such a good training ground.

It’s also exciting putting those jigsaw puzzles together when you read a script, and you’re like, “This is my vision.” Then, working with the producers and directors to find that magic and put everyone together so we can make the script come to life.

Diversity and inclusion have been a central focus during your time as the CGA president. How do you personally approach building more representative casts?

I guess it’s that incidental casting where you are open to all types of people in all roles. It’s that magic where you never know where you’re going to cast someone. Sometimes, those characters are written that way, which is brilliant as well, but I love to be able to keep it open.

With the Casting Guild of Australia, we’ve come up with some fantastic databases that give us access to people we wouldn’t normally discover, and share that information with other casting directors. If someone else is casting a project, we can go, “Oh great, we’ve got someone else who we’ve seen in the room.”

We formed the Casting Guild of Australia to support other casting directors working together as a team, and [to] see how we can discover people together as well. Inclusion is really important because we want [TV and film] to look like our community and the real world out there.

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You recently served as a judge for the AACTA Young Stars National Youth Casting Call this year won by Joe Bird. Were there any common threads you noticed among the standout performers?

We’re a bit spoiled for choice of actors in Australia, and the young performers are really good. We had thousands of applications throughout Australia, and it was just amazing. It was really hard to shortlist.

The young kids in Australia are down-to-earth and grounded. There were some pieces you’d watch that would break your heart. Then, some that would give you that joy and excitement. Casting kids is always hard, but it is the most rewarding — discovering kids who’ve got those natural instincts.

I am really impressed how the kids these days know how to put together a tape and present really well.

You also recently partnered with Casting Networks on a mental health initiative for actors. If you could wave a magic wand and instantly shift how the industry supports actors’ mental health, what would you change first?

Mental health is so important in this industry because sometimes as actors, and even casting directors, you can feel quite isolated. It was great to have a way to support people in that area and provide tools.

As a casting director, I guess I’m lucky because I come from an acting background, so I understand the process. My magic wand, what would it be? I guess it would be for actors to believe in themselves. It is a hard industry, but keep working, get the training, trust yourself and [don’t] overthink it. You have to just put it out there. I think people get too focused on the result, but it’s not about that; it’s about the process.

I think mental health is really important, and [is] one of those things we have to continue to work on in the industry — for actors, for casting directors, for agents. We’re all working together.

You’ve been such a pivotal figure in the casting world of Neighbours for years. With this chapter coming to a close, do you know what your next steps might look like?

I’ve been lucky enough to cast Neighbours since, gosh, 2011. It’s been an absolute honor. It’s that fast-paced television where we shoot 42 weeks a year, and I’m constantly casting, which has been an amazing platform.

I’ve got such respect for all those actors. It’s the best acting school in the world. If you look at the journey of Australian A-list actors, most have done at least a little role on Neighbours, which is really nice. Sadly, it’s finishing up, but I guess we’re lucky that we’ve had it in our industry for 40 years.

I’ve been casting outside of Neighbours as well, so while I’m sad that the doors closed with Neighbours, other opportunities will arise in the casting world. I’ll have more time to do more international projects.

I love doing those worldwide searches because we have such good access to talent in Australia. I was lucky enough to cast two international productions last year where I found the leads out of Australia — Blake Draper for A. Rimbaud, and Joshua Orpin for The Forsyte Saga. I do love the fact that it’ll open me up to more opportunities internationally and locally.

Any parting words of wisdom as we bring this conversation to a close?

It’s really important to know that you are [unique] as an actor, and every performance is different. Everyone thinks that there’s some trick or something that you can do. One of those things I love discovering when I’m watching different auditions, or having you in the room, is you bringing yourself to the role. Sometimes people don’t realize how unique they are as individual performers. There’s nothing better than that.

The other thing that needs to be emphasized is that the casting directors are on your side, and we are working together as a team. Every casting director wants you to [give] an amazing performance. You’re going to stand out in your own individual way. [We’ll] get a sense of you, then put you into those different roles.

Special thanks to Thea McLeod for her time. Be sure to follow McLeod Casting’s Facebook and Instagram for news and open calls.