Carla Stronge
CASTING DIRECTOR
Carla is a born and bred, triple Emmy award winning, Northern Irish Casting Director based in Belfast.
Her first casting director credit was BBC 2’s THE FALL - the critically acclaimed drama series that first aired in May 2013 to record audiences.
Carla’s first official casting credit was HBO’s GAME OF THRONES in 2010. But truth be told she has been casting for a lot longer than that.
Carla really has built her experience from the ground up. Having started in background casting, she began street casting in 2005 before going on to set up Northern Ireland’s first background casting company, Extras NI, in 2007. She quickly became the first port of call to assist and inform casting directors coming to Northern Ireland as she was often working on the same productions, regularly casting small parts and child roles.
It was through this work that Carla had the opportunity to assist Nina Gold and Robert Sterne in their epic countrywide search (throughout both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) for local talent to cast in HBO’s Game of Thrones. From there on in, she undertook all local casting for all eight seasons to date. This was the perfect launchpad that led to Carla’s casting of all three series of THE FALL.
In 2015, 2017 and 2019 Carla won three primetime Emmy awards for 'Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series', sharing those wins with Nina Gold and Robert Sterne. In January 2020, Nina, Robert, and Carla, also won an Artios Award from the Casting Society of America for their work on Game of Thrones.
In November 2018, Carla was presented with the Brian Waddell Award by the Royal Television Society of Northern Ireland, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the local television and film industry.
In 2024, Carla won the British Independent Film Award for Best Casting for her work on the feature film, KNEECAP.
Since 2011 Carla has focused entirely on honing her skills as a casting director. She continues to build on her award-winning experience and loves to collaborate. If you need to source local talent and/or explore off the beaten track to discover something new and emerging, please get in touch.
Recent castings
TRESPASSES (2024)
HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM BELFAST (2024)
KNEECAP (2023)
THE FOLLOWING EVENTS ARE BASED ON A PACK OF LIES (2022)
DERRY GIRLS S3 (2021)
DALGLIESH (2021)
Michael Hooley
CASTING DIRECTOR / ASSOCIATE
Mike initially worked in production and background casting before becoming Carla’s assistant in 2014. He cut his teeth working across projects like THE FALL and the final five seasons of GAME OF THRONES.
For the last seven years, Mike has been leading projects in his own right and is particularly passionate about location casting and providing opportunities for actors on the island of Ireland and is always keen to collaborate and tell exciting, original stories.
Most notable recent credits include Casting Director on FUNBOYs for BBC Comedy, feature film, The Last Rifleman, Derry Girls Series 3, all four series of Hope Street and Location Casting Director on The Northman (Kharmel Cochrane - CD).
Mike has been a member of the Casting Directors’ Guild since 2021.
Select credits include:
DERRY GIRLS
THE NORTHMAN
GAME OF THRONES
Hayley Russell
CASTING ASSISTANT / ASSOCIATE
Graduating in Drama from Queen's University Belfast in 2011, Hayley performed in productions at The Lyric Theatre, The MAC and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2017, she moved to the other side of the camera, and joined the team at Carla Stronge Casting. She now assists Carla across an array of television & film productions.
She enjoys stepping up when required as an associate to Carla and Mike earning her the nick name Ping Pong.
Select credits include:
FRANK OF IRELAND
SECRET LIFE OF BOYS
NOWHERE SPECIAL
AMY BLAIR
CASTING ASSOCIATE
Amy was an actress for 8 years before moving into casting in 2019. Working initially in London, she worked as an assistant, then associate on multiple commercials and feature films as well as casting theatre in her own right. Amy joined the Casting Director's Guild as a probationary member in 2021 and has been working with Carla and the team since 2023.
Notable projects as Casting Director include Pickle Storm (CBBC), The Importance of Being Earnest (Manchester Royal Exchange) and The Shape of Things (Park Theatre). As Associate, she has recently worked on Dalgliesh (New Pictures / Ch5), How To Get To Heaven From Belfast (HatTrick Productions / Netflix) and Trespasses (Wildgaze Films / Ch4).
Select credits include:
PICKLE STORM
HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN FROM BELFAST
THE SHAPE OF THINGS (At the Park Theatre)
