The Character: Claire was born and raised on Drovers Run. At 15 she left boarding school to live and work on the property fulltime. She is an exceptional stockwoman who worked side-by-side with her father until he died, leaving her as the capable manager of Drovers Run. Claire wears her authority well – a sense of stillness and calm at the centre of her constant activity. She never talks down to her workers, instead acting like one of them. Yet she is amusingly out of her depth when it comes to small talk and matters of the heart.When her half-sister Tess returns to Drovers Run, the outside world and a whole new way of life is forced upon Claire. Claire finds herself out of her depth as Tess reminds her that life is not just about work, and that she is, in fact, a woman. Claire will see her life and sense of self completely transformed by her exotic, fiery sister from the city.

The Actor: When Lisa Chappell auditioned for McLeod’s Daughters she thought she was going for a guest role, only to find after a few callbacks that she had landed a lead role as Claire McLeod. Lisa was excited by the challenge of playing Claire. “The physicality of the script meant I had to ride and have all the skills a girl has to have to run a farm,” she said – a contrast to her early life as a city girl, born and bred in New Zealand. Lisa appreciates that McLeod’s Daughters centers around the idea that “there is a hero in everybody” and sees much of the series as a relationship piece between the two sisters. The strong scripts also attracted Lisa to the series. “Episode one made me laugh, made me cry, and as an actor that is what I aspire to do to an audience,” she said.Chappell is a dedicated and clear thinking member of the cast. She meditates daily and appreciates the journey of her character: “Claire is getting to know herself, and that’s what we’re all about, really.”She has substantial credits in film, television and theatre including: Jack Brown Genius, Desperate Remedies (film), City Life, Hercules, A Skeleton in the Closet, Shortland Street, Shark in the Park and Gloss (television) and in theatre Hamlet, Richard II, Crimes of the Heart, Wizard of Oz and Fool for Love. Lisa recently completed the prestigious Journey 2000 at the Actors Centre in Sydney before joining McLeod’s Daughters.