Philippa Northeast

Philippa Northeast (born 23 September 1994) is an Australian actress, known for her role as Evelyn MacGuire in the soap opera Home and Away from 2013 until 2017. After leaving Home and Away, Northeast starred in the 2019 romantic comedy film Standing Up for Sunny with RJ Mitte. She also starred in the Hallmark television film A Royal Runaway Romance. In 2023, Northeast played the recurring role of Lily in the Australian comedy series In Limbo. She was also cast as Kay Walters in the second season of The Newsreader, and joined the supporting cast of Network 10 drama Paper Dolls. She plays Susie Lawson in the 2024 neo-Western series Territory and the lead role of Sybylla in the 2026 Netflix adaptation of Miles Franklin's novel My Brilliant Career.

Early life and education Philippa Northeast was born on 23 September 1994 and raised in South-East Melbourne along with her four siblings.

She attended Melbourne Rudolf Steiner School, where she completed her VCE. She then began studying a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in criminology, at The University of Melbourne.

Career Northeast joined the main cast of soap opera Home and Away in 2013 as Evelyn MacGuire, alongside Jake Speer as her character's twin Oscar MacGuire. Northeast found a dollar coin on the steps of her casting agent before attending the audition, which she felt was a sign of good luck. During a callback audition, Northeast was paired with a number of actors as producers tried to find Evelyn's twin. Speer was the first actor to act with her and the producers kept coming back to them, as they noted that they had the right chemistry. Northeast's character became known for having a fictional curse on her, following the deaths of her on-screen father, siblings and aunt.

After four years of playing Evelyn, Northeast decided to leave Home and Away and her character's exit aired in March 2017. She later made a guest appearance in May 2017 to facilitate the exit of Evelyn's uncle Zac MacGuire (Charlie Clausen). She planned to fly out to Los Angeles to find acting work, but she was also hoping to find roles in Australia. The film was shot in Newtown in 2018. Northeast flew out to Los Angeles in 2020 to take part in the pilot season and documented her trip for Mamamia. In 2022, Northeast starred in the Hallmark Channel television film A Royal Runaway Romance with Brant Daugherty. She also played the recurring role of Lily in Lucas Taylor's Australian comedy series In Limbo.

Northeast joined the cast of The Newsreader for its second season, which began production in Melbourne in mid-2022. Northeast plays Kay Walters, the daughter of Geoff (Robert Taylor) and Evelyn Walters (Marg Downey). In March 2023, she joined the supporting cast of drama Paper Dolls, along with Lyndon Watts, Carlos Sanson Jr, Ben Turland, and Elizabeth Cullen. The drama was filmed in Sydney for Network 10. The following year, Northeast began starring as Susie Lawson in the Netflix neo-Western series Territory.

She appears in procedural dramedy Good Cop/Bad Cop, which stars Leighton Meester and Luke Cook. Northeast plays Cook's on-screen love interest Dr Marci Laine. On 21 November 2024, Northeast was announced as part of the cast for the ABC six-part drama The Family Next Door, alongside Teresa Palmer and Bella Heathcote. The series is adapted from Sally Hepworth's novel of the same name and was filmed in Victoria. For her performance in The Family Next Door, Northeast received a Logie Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama in 2026. On 18 June 2025, Northeast was named as the lead in the Netflix adaptation of Miles Franklin's novel My Brilliant Career.

Other activities After leaving Home and Away in 2017, Northeast became an ambassador for skincare range Wotnot Naturals, and shot her first campaign for them at the Bondi Icebergs Club.

In 2018 Northeast was an ambassador for the Ration Challenge, in which participants eat the same food rations as a Syrian refugee for a week.

Personal life Since 2018, Northeast has been in a relationship with Australian actor Sam Reid, whom she acted alongside in Standing Up for Sunny. They have a blue heeler dog named Rani.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2003 Skithouse Various Episode: "1.1" 2013–2017 Home and Away Evelyn MacGuire Main cast 2019 Standing Up for Sunny Sunny Feature film Drop Dead Weird Astrid Episode: "Haunted Hotel" 2020 Bondi Slayer Pip Episode: "Home and a Slay" 2022 A Royal Runaway Romance Amelia Bell Television film 2023 In Limbo Lily Recurring role 2023–2025 The Newsreader Kay Walters Recurring role 2023–2024 Paper Dolls Ally 4 episodes 2024 Territory Susie Lawson 6 episodes 2025 Good Cop/Bad Cop Marci Laine TV seriesThe Family Next DoorEssieTV series 2026My Brilliant Career Sybylla