Hire one to play the female lead (7)
I believe the answer is:
heroine
'the female lead' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'hire one to play' is the wordplay.
'to play' is an anagram indicator.
'hire'+'one'='hireone'
'hireone' with letters rearranged gives 'HEROINE'.
(Other definitions for heroine that I've seen before include "Leading lady" , "Woman of outstanding courage" , "Eg, Emma, Jane Eyre" , "Brave woman" , "Lead female character" .)