Sally McLean
as “Hecate MacFindlay”
(also Dark Arcadia creator/writer/director)
An award-winning, multi-hyphenate creative, Sally McLean is first and foremost an actor, playing lead, guest and supporting roles in numerous Australian, US and UK film, theatre and television productions since her teens.
A graduate of The Actors Institute UK, some of Sally’s notable screen acting credits include the lead role of “Angie Powers” in the BAFTA Award-winning BBC mini series Bootleg, lead guest role of “Stacy” in the AACTA Award-winning ABC TV series Utopia and recurring guest roles of “Miss Giddens” in the BAFTA nominated ABC/CBBC TV series The Worst Year of My Life – Again! and “Barb” in the USA Sony/AMC TV series, Preacher. She was most recently seen in the guest role of “Karen” on the Netflix comedy series Son of a Donkey.
She founded her own boutique production business, Incognita Enterprises, under the Honorary Patronage of Oscar® nominated actor, Sir Nigel Hawthorne KB, CBE in 1997 – an association that continued until his passing in 2001. Under the Incognita umbrella, she has created, written & directed numerous projects including the critically acclaimed and multi award-winning digital series Shakespeare Republic and it’s spin-off series Walking Shadows as well as the internationally awarded short film Speaking Daggers.
Predominately working in comedy on screen as an actor, Sally is also an experienced dramatic Shakespearean performer with Musical Theatre roots, playing over thirty lead and supporting roles on stage in both Australia and the UK. Highlights include playing the lead in the West End premiere of the drama Annabel’s Requiem, playing “King Duncan” in what is believed to be the first all-female production of Macbeth in the UK and performing the lead of “Woman One” in the professional Australian premier of the hit Broadway musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.
Recent acting accolade highlights include being nominated in a field that included Royal Shakespeare Company and Globe Theatre company members for “Outstanding Performance in a Principal Role (History)” for her “Queen Katherine” in Shakespeare’s Henry VIII for The Show Must Go Online at the Groundlings Choice Awards in the UK, winning “Best Actress in a Web Series” for playing “Macbeth” in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles) at the BIFA qualifying Unrestricted View Film Festival also in the UK, winning “Best Actress” at the 2023 Andromeda Film Festival in Turkey, as decided by an international jury of filmmakers, as well as having her work honoured with a nomination for “Best Actress in a TV Series” at the 2024 New Bedford Film Festival for playing “Hecate MacFindlay” in Dark Arcadia and receiving a Highly Commended Finalist award at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s Film Festival in the UK, as awarded by the jury, headed by Jury President, Sir Kenneth Branagh.
Sally is also the recipient of the prestigious CINE Golden Eagle Award for Best Digital Series in the USA for Season Two of Shakespeare Republic, which saw her join the ranks of fellow CINE Golden Eagle Award alumni such as Steven Spielberg (the then CINE President) Oprah Winfrey, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jim Henson, Mike Nichols, Robert Altman, Spike Lee, Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Sydney Pollack, among others. Fellow award winners that year were Christian Slater’s Mr Robot, Variety’s Actors on Actors and National Geographic’s MARS series.
Her most recent award for acting was winning “Best Performer in a Play” at the 2024 BroadwayWorld Melbourne Awards for playing “Louise” on stage in the Australian premiere of Only Child at Chapel off Chapel theatre in Melbourne, Australia.
Links to more information:
Official site: https://www.sallymclean.com
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0572643/
Showcast: https://www.showcast.com.au/showcast/profile/sallymclean
Sally McLean as “Hecate MacFindlay” in Dark Arcadia