SelmaNicholls

Selma Nicholls, award winning casting director and founder of Looks Like Me Casting, with a decade of industry experience casting factual, VOD, branded content, short films, theatre and commercials for the UK and global markets.  Looks Like Me believes in raising the profile of underrepresented voices featured in mainstream content, celebrating an inclusive spectrum of talent through casting. 

Nicholls was motivated by her daughter Riley-Ann, who questioned her own identity at three years old due to the limited visibility of children that looked like her on TV, billboards, theatre shows, the big screen, magazines and within advertising content. This motivation led Nicholls to found 'Looks Like Me Casting'.

Nicholls' motivation has since seen her presented with the first ever winner of ‘Best Casting in a UK Music Video’ 2025 from UK Music Videos Awards and ‘Best Casting Director Recognition Award’ 2024 from The Black British Theatre Awards, alongside ‘Best Casting of an Open Media Project’ 2024, ‘Best Casting of a Live Performance’ 2024 and 'Best Casting Featuring Children in a Commercial' 2022 awarded from the Casting Directors Association, and an 'Arts and Media Senior Leader Award' from the Black British Business Awards 2018.  To date, 'Looks Like Me' has worked with businesses as diverse as LEGO, Disney, Barbie, Dove, Google.  Nicholls cast the child cast for the Grammy Award Winning video Brown Skin Girl by Beyonce in Disney’s Black Is King film, and the Queen Charlotte Global Orchestra featuring Alicia Keys for Netflix Promo advert.

Nicholls also co-founded The So White Project – an initiative to reverse the lack of diversity in commercial photography in partnership with Getty Images and AdLand in 2016.  As a global public speaker, Nicholls has inspired and motivated businesses, broadcasters, brands, advertising agencies, and universities in the UK, Europe, USA and Asia, to have inclusive communications, demonstrating the importance of inclusion and representation in casting.  Nicholls is a proud Board member of Punchdrunk Enrichment, celebrating the magical world of immersive theatre.

Looks Like Me Casting