Acting Resume Examples and Tips For This Year

Acting Resume Example

There’s no business like show business, but show business is still a business. That means you need to write a stellar acting resume if you want to land the best acting jobs. Here are a few tips on how to write a show-stopping actor resume that will impress casting directors.

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How Are Acting Resumes Different From Other Resumes?

A professional actor’s resume will place an emphasis on different aspects of the resume. While you do need to highlight your special skills and previous acting jobs, you also need to highlight if you went to a prestigious acting school, which venues, productions or films you’ve starred in, and any other special skills you might have as an actor.

Actor Resume Format

Though the content of an actor’s resume will be much different from any other type of resume, it should generally still follow the same format. Here’s the best resume format to use.

Contact information
The header with your contact information is the simplest part to construct. In this section include your:

• Full name
• Location
• Phone number
• Email address
• A link to your actor’s website, portfolio or professional social media or job networking profiles

As an actor, a head shot is typically required. However, avoid including a head shot directly on your resume. Instead look for photo submission instructions in the job posting.

Resume Objective
The resume objective is a brief paragraph at the very top of your resume that discusses your most relevant acting skills, acting roles and goals for your career. It shouldn’t be longer than a few sentences at the most. If you’ve worked with any notable studios or production companies in your acting career, then you should also cover that here. A touch of humor might make your funny resume objective more memorable, but think about whether it’s the best strategy.

Skills Section
The skills section should highlight any special skills you possess outside the ability to act, such as:

• Musical theater skills (can also include singing and dancing)
• Voiceover or other voice acting credits
• Language proficiency (i.e., Spanish, French, Mandarin, Cantonese, etc.)
• Teamwork
• Acting techniques

Work experience
When listing your experience, you need to split your roles into different categories: extra, supporting actor or lead. These categories alone can tell the casting director about your experience thus far, so you don’t need to include the character’s name in your resume.

Specific acting experience can also say a lot about an actor’s capabilities on-stage or on-camera. If you have several musical theater credits under your belt as a lead actor, a casting director will know that you have the vocal range to star in a musical-centered TV show or film.

You should also pay attention to the order of the roles you list. It’s best to list your work experience in reverse-chronological order, with your most recent role listed first. That way, the casting director can make a note of your experience and cast you accordingly.

Education
Many casting directors will be more impressed if you graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from the California Institute of the Arts School of Theater or Julliard in New York compared to a local community college degree.

You can also list any student films or productions you starred in, either in college or in high school, relevant acting classes and other notable master classes you have taken.