Former Neighbours Star Opens Up About Moving From Acting Into Adult Films

Caitlin Stasey may be best known to many viewers for her role in "Neighbours," but she has also spoken openly about taking her career in a much more unexpected direction.

The Australian actor has not only moved between TV and film over the years, but also stepped behind the camera. While actors becoming directors is nothing unusual, Stasey’s decision to work on adult film sets made her career shift stand out.

During a conversation on the news.com.au podcast "I've Got News For You," she explained that her first adult project came from an unexpected place: the highly sexual way perfume ads are often shot.

"They're always so sexy, and it always feels like sex is about to happen, when they're sniffing each other's necks and like, licking each other's wrists," she explained.

That idea eventually became the starting point for her own adult film concept, with Stasey saying: "So I kind of came up with the concept of a perfume commercial that then becomes a lesbian threesome."

Rather than treating the project as a shock move, Stasey framed it as a creative exercise. For her, the point was not just to move into X-rated work, but to explore tone, image, intimacy, and direction in a space built around sex.

Stasey worked with Afterglow, a company known for a progressive, queer, and female-led approach to adult entertainment. That detail matters because her move into porn was not presented as a random career detour, but as part of a space focused on women’s pleasure and a different kind of gaze.

She spoke about the set in warm terms, describing it as a supportive place to work rather than the harsh or exploitative environment some people might imagine when they think about adult film production.

"It's very ‘warm' and the women are ‘very kind and patient'," she said, pointing to the patient and supportive nature of the people around her.

Stasey also made it clear that the move was tied to her wider goals as a filmmaker, not just the headline value of a former soap star directing adult content.

"I want to become a better director and learn how to make things that look beautiful and feel good so that one day I can learn how to make things that are ugly and don't," she added.

That comment helps explain why she saw adult filmmaking as a way to learn. She was interested in making something that felt intimate, polished, and visually strong before pushing herself toward darker or more difficult material later.

How she later described the experience

Stasey later spoke about the work as a positive experience, while also being honest that adult filmmaking still comes with the same practical pressures as other kinds of production. In a 2023 interview with RUSSH, she said she had worked with Erika Lust and Afterglow and described the experience as wholly positive.

She also pointed out that tight budgets and limited resources can affect adult sets just as they affect non-adult film sets. That adds a useful layer to the story, because it shows she was talking about the work as filmmaking first, not just as something shocking.

That practical side also connects to wider conversations around adult performers and creators who try to move between mainstream media and adult work, including former adult stars such as Adriana Chechik discussing life after the porn industry.

Stasey’s acting career has covered a wide range of projects, including "Sleepover Club," "Neighbours," "Please Like Me," and "Tomorrow When The War Began."

She also appeared in the 2023 Prime Video series "Class of ‘07," alongside Emily Browning and Steph Tisdell.

That mix of roles is part of what made the adult film move so attention-grabbing. Stasey already had a familiar mainstream screen career, so her decision to work with Afterglow felt less like a total departure and more like a sharp creative turn.

What Caitlin Stasey has done since

The story still works as an evergreen piece because Stasey has continued to move between different kinds of screen work. After Class of ’07, she also appeared as Ginny Roberts in a 2025 episode of Watson titled Teeth Marks.

That later role shows that her adult film work did not replace acting altogether. Instead, it sits as one part of a wider career that includes soap opera, comedy, horror, streaming shows, and directing.

For readers who only know her from Neighbours, that wider path is probably the most interesting part. Stasey’s career has not followed one clean lane, and she has seemed comfortable taking on work that challenges what people expect from a former soap star.

Outside acting and directing, Stasey also created herself.com, a feminist website built around nude portraits of women paired with interviews about women’s issues, relationships, sexuality, and reproductive health.

The project fits with the same themes that appear in her work with Afterglow: women speaking honestly about their bodies, sexuality, and experiences without being framed only through a male point of view.

Speaking with Women's Agenda about the site, she explained the idea behind it: "My main focus has always been, continues to be, solidarity – the only relief I feel when faced with an issue is to know I'm not alone, knowing that women, ones whom I may never meet, are out there rooting for each other and persevering."

Stasey also shared what she hoped the website might do for other women who came across it.

"Nothing warms my heart more than sisterhood, and it is my sincerest hope that women who view the site, participate or even simply hear about it are encouraged to band together with love and compassion."

Her comments show that the site was not just about nudity or provocation. It was also about connection, solidarity, and giving women a space to talk about subjects that are often treated as private or uncomfortable.

During the same conversation with IGNFY host Andrew Bucklow, Stasey also looked back on a very different part of her career: appearing in the famous "I Still Call Australia Home" Qantas advertisement as a child.

"I was really lucky that was filmed before the evolution of the green screen … it was all practical back then."

"I went to India, I was in Africa, I went to China, I went all throughout Australia," Stasey recalled.

Looking back, she remembered the experience with a mix of gratitude and humor.

"It was truly one the most incredible experiences of my life, but I was like 10 years old. "

It was a huge opportunity for a child performer, though Stasey admitted that some of the scale of it may have been lost on her at that age.

"We were in these beautiful hotels, and at the time, if you're like, ‘What was your favourite part?', we'd all be like ‘oh, the pool in Cannes was sick!'"

"So there's a bit lost on us, but it was truly so special."

That memory gives the story a funny contrast. Stasey went from a childhood travel campaign seen across Australia to adult filmmaking, feminist projects, and streaming TV roles, making her career far less predictable than many viewers might have expected.