When Russ moved back to Australia, she began working as the casting assistant for
Crawford Productions. After 18 months, she was offered the job of casting director at
Grundy Television for their television drama
Prisoner. During this time Russ was contacted by
Reg Watson, who explained that he was working on a new drama series and wanted her to make a list of actors to look at. Russ wanted a mix of new talent and experienced but not as well known actors, believing viewers would find it harder to engage with their characters if they were too well known. She is credited not only for casting "seasoned performers", including
Ian Smith,
Anne Charleston,
Tom Oliver,
Jackie Woodburne,
Alan Fletcher,
Guy Pearce,
Daniel MacPherson,
Craig McLachlan,
Holly Valance,
Madeleine West, and
Brooke Satchwell. In 2006, Russ was responsible for choosing the winners of
Dolly magazine's search for
Neighbours' next big stars competition. She had to go through seven thousand taped entries over several weeks, before starting live auditions. The
Dolly competition ran again in 2008 and Russ handpicked Mauricio Merino Jr. and Chelsea Jones to star as
Simon and
Tegan Freeman, respectively. In March 2009, Russ' future with
Neighbours was called into question following a backstage "shakeup". It was announced that
FremantleMedia, the series production company, was planning to bring in an external casting agency. Fremantle's spokesman said "The casting role is critical to the show, it is an enormous job and it continues to grow by the day. We continue to discuss with Jan her role with the show, as her skill and talents are incredible". Two months later, it was announced that Russ was in discussions about her future with the show and about her involvement in the
Dolly magazine competition and the 25th Anniversary. However, Russ was told by the then-producers that she was being let go and was being given her four weeks notice. Russ told David Knox of
TV Tonight: "So I just sat there for a month, absolutely devastated. Totally devastated. I couldn't believe that after 26 years that's what I was given. I think they probably felt 'She's a bit old now, we want young blood.' But you can't replace experience and knowledge." Russ worked as casting director for Grundy Television, and its successor FremantleMedia for a total of twenty-five years. In 2010, it was announced that Russ would be casting a new television project, created and developed by the McMahon Entertainment Group. ==Acting==