How To Write An Acting Resume

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Some would argue that an actor's resume is even more important than his or her headshot. The headshot expresses the look and feel of the actor at a glance, but the resume sells the versatility, skillfullness, and success of an actor before he or she ever shows up to the audition. In this article we will quickly review the central purpose of an acting resume and from there discuss what should and should not go in it and why.

An acting resume is exactly one side of one page, and you will typically staple it to the back of your head shot. This single page represents you as an artist, as an entertainer, as an employee, and as a colleague. The average audition gives you just a minute or two to make a direct impression on the auditioners, and the opinion they form during that short time will be heavily impacted by their preconceived notions of you. Those preconceptions come from two places: their own life experiences, and you resume and headshot. There is absolutely nothing you can do about their life experiences, but there is everything you can do to give them a good and solid impression of you through your resume and headshot.

In order to do that, you will have to do a little thinking about what the auditioners seem to be looking for. What show are they putting up, and how does it compare to their previous shows? What types of shows do these people typically produce, and what kinds of people do they usually use for the type of part you're trying out for? Once you've considered what they're looking for, the only thing to do is to try and give it to them. You're an actor, so this should be the easy part.

The only thing you need to realize is that your acting resume is not an extension of you as an actor, it is an extension of the part you want to play. So, you should twist and pull at the facts of your professional life until they fit, as closely as possible, the specific audition. Don't lie; just select the shows you list and the order in which you list them to suit the demands of the part. Highlight the skills that will enhance this particular show. This is a little bit of an extra investment in terms of time and energy, but it's not that big an investment. Five or ten minutes per audition could be the difference between your next big break and you next season of waiting tables.