Acting Resume

How To Make An Acting Resume

An actor’s resume, along with an actor’s headshot, is your calling card. It’s there to not only show off your experience and past work but also your education and acting classes you’ve taken, physical stats and any other ‘special skills’ you might have.

Even if you have no experience, don’t worry. We all started somewhere and you can still have an acting resume that you can be proud to hand off to any casting director or agent.

Make your acting resume as professional as it can be and don’t try and jazz it up.

The Basics:

• You resume is always on one (1) sheet of paper.
• It must fit on the back of your 8×10 headshot. You’ll size up the resume to the back of your headshot, staple it in two opposite corners and cut the excess paper.
• Make it look clean with a lot of white space. It must be easy to read.
• Don’t try to cram every single role you’ve played since Elementary School on your resume. Did you do a production of The Wizard of Oz in High School and you’re now in your 30’s? Don’t add that.
• Don’t use any crazy fonts! Stick with Times New Roman or Arial.
• You can make the headings on your resume (Name, TV/Film/Theater section, Special Skills section) a different color than black but I wouldn’t choose more than one color.
• Never lie on your resume! Seriously, never ever lie because at some point you’re going to be caught. Whether you’re in Los Angeles, New York or Topeka, this is a small community and someone will find out. You don’t want to damage your reputation, especially if you are just starting out.
• You can choose to print your resume on the back of your headshot, but I wouldn’t. What if you just landed a part and you have 20 already printed headshots & resumes? You could write the new role in but that just looks sloppy.
• Do not put extra work on your resume.

Name, Contact Information, Physical Description, Union Affiliations (if any)

Take a look at the examples below:

Either of these will work fine.  

If you have an agent or someone who is representing you, you can also put their logo on the left side and put the phone number under the logo.

• Union affiiations. SAG-AFTRA or Equity/AEA. If you’re not a member of either, just keep that part blank. Some people put SAG-AFTRA Eligible if they are able to join the union. I’m not a big fan of that – either join or not.
• Contact information. List your contact information or agents/ managers. Don’t put your address on your resume.
• Personal Information. Your height, weight, hair and eye color. Never put your age on your resume unless you are under 18.
• If you want to do musical theater, you should also list your vocal type here. Example, Voice: Tenor

Acting Roles/Experience

In this section, you’ll list all of the acting parts you’ve had. You’ll group them by Theatre, Film and Television. If you have Web Series credits, you can make a section for that as well.

I have 3 different resumes depending on what I’m auditioning for. If I’m auditioning for a role in a play, I’ll bring my Theatre Resume. Same goes for a TV audition or Film Audition.

In each section, I list my most recent job first. Some list in order of their biggest role they’ve had and go from there. I prefer it chronologically – but either way, don’t ever add the dates you worked on those roles.

If you’ve done a bunch of work, don’t list everything you’ve ever been in. For example, if you’re in your 30′s don’t put the plays in High School you performed in.

Theatre:

For your Theatre section, you list the Name of the Show, followed by your Role, Theatre Company and Location of the Production.

You don’t have to add the director of the show unless they’re well known. If I did a show that Mike Nichols or Susan Stroman directed, you can bet I’d have that on my resume in big, bold letters. But normally, you wouldn’t add the Director.

Take a look at the examples below:

I personally use the 1st example but you can use either one.

Film, Television

For this section, you’ll list the Name of the Show or Film, followed by the Type of Role (not your character name), Network or Production Company and Director of the Show or Film. 

Don’t ever put extra work on your resume. Again, don’t ever put extra work on your resume.

Training and Education:

Next up is your Training. In this section, you’ll list all of the acting classes and workshops you’ve taken. If you went to college or took classes there, you’ll add them here.

You can see that I put graduation date. This is optional.

Special Skills

This is the last part of your acting resume and the only part where you could add a touch of humor. Don’t get too cute though, no one cares where you were born, what time and where.

Here, you’ll put down the accents you can do. Don’t have a huge list either. Something they can glance at. And only list things you can do at that moment. If you can’t do an Australian accent on the fly, don’t put it there. I’ll give you a good example: When I was finishing up my final audition for the film, Gods and Generals, Casting Director Joy Todd and Ron Maxwell, the Director, were looking at my resume. They didn’t think I was right for the role I had come in for but they saw that I did an Irish accent and asked if I could read a few lines. I did and got the part.

And there is your acting resume! Coming Soon – Click here if you need an acting resume template. A theatre resume template is there also.

Good luck and if you ever need help, feel free to contact me!

Looking for more acting information? Here are some great resources – More Coming soon

How To Become An Actor

Headshot Photographers – Including Los Angeles and New York

The Top 11 Reputable Casting Websites

Also, check out our Acting Advice Columns,  Interviews with Actors and our Actors on Acting category!

Fail Boldly

Written by Jamison Haase

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” – Thomas Edison

Oftentimes, there is a disconnect between what we do as actors and how we were raised. No one wants to put themselves out there in a vulnerable way; we were often taught as children that to stand out is wrong, either by our parents, our peers, or society as a whole. From an early age, many of us were told to behave a certain way, to be like every one else, to be a “nice boy or girl” — ultimately to fit in and play it safe. Add to that our own fears and anxieties about separating ourselves from the pack, either by making a bold stand, voicing our individual opinion, or doing something we consider daring?   Suddenly we have every reason seemingly to stay with the herd, to do everything in our power to try to stay safe. Read more

How Much Did the ‘Arrested Development’ Stars Get Paid for the NetFlix Revival?

In case you haven’t been paying attention to the media over the last two years, the cult favorite Fox television comedy Arrested Development, which ran from 2003-2006, is being revived for new episodes on the streaming service NetFlix.  While the entire original cast that made up the dysfunctional Bluth family and creator Mitch Hurwitz have returned to the series, being that the revival is more of a one-time “event” than an ongoing series the stars of the show had an unusal arrangement in terms of how much they were paid per episode.  Entertainment Weekly published an article about how much the stars of the series would be getting for coming back for another go-around.

As part of the revival, each of the show’s stars was promised at least one starring episode, which factored in how much that person was paid.  The actors were paid $125,000 for each “starring” episode and $50,000 for any episode in which their characters had more than 90 seconds of airtime. Any episode which features less than 90 seconds of their particular character netted them $10,000, and a clips of old footage in episodes would net them an extra $1000. Read more

Q & A: Anne Heche on Her New Religious-Themed Comedy, ‘Save Me’

After almost choking to death on a sandwich, Anne Heche’s Beth Harper claims she can talk to God in the new NBC comedy, Save Me. When she’s revived, Beth thinks she can see the Big Guy and starts to make amends to everyone she’s every shut out of her life… and it’s a lot of people.

Also starring Madison Davenport (Shameless) as her horrified daughter, Michael Landes as her skeptical husband and Alexandra Breckenridge (American Horror Story) as her husband’s ex-mistress, Beth eventually starts to win people over with her new optimistic views on life.

In this interview, Heche talks about her love of physical comedy, trying to quit acting when she was younger and how we all get “messages” from God.

Save Me airs on Thursdays at 8pm on NBC Read more

Finally! The Mother of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Finally Revealed… How Was It Kept Secret?

So it finally happened: after eight seasons worth of hints and misdirection, viewers of How I Met Your Mother have finally met the mother that Bob Saget‘s voice has been talking about to those two bored-looking kids.  In a surprising reveal in the eighth season finale, the mother was revealed to be… well, I won’t come out and put it here just yet just in case you were watching the NHL playoffs and the episode is waiting for you on the DVR.  But be forewarned, I will be revealing the actress’ name in a bit.

The co-creators of the show, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, sat down with Entertainment Weekly to talk about the big reveal that was eight years in the making and why they chose the actress whom the mother was revealed to be.  When asked how they managed to keep it a secret, the duo answered: Read more

Colin Firth on ‘Arthur Newman’ and How Winning an Oscar “Opens Doors”

Your career doesn’t automatically change once you’ve won an Oscar—at least according to Colin Firth.  The British actor claims that transformation happens slowly.

“In some ways it’s happening now…An Oscar doesn’t suddenly work the miracle that manufactures a plethora of great writers who are suddenly ready to come to you with fully financed films, with the right director attached, landing on your table saying: Take your pick. It’s not as coherent as that,” he said in an interview with Yahoo! News. Read more

Interview: Travis Fimmel Talks ‘Vikings’, Learning the Norse Language and Shooting in Ireland

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:42 — 8.8MB)

Vikings tells the story of Ragnar, one of the greatest heroes of that era. It follows him, his family and band of Viking brothers on his quest to become the King of the Viking tribes. His often brutal quest.

Travis Fimmel plays Ragnar and as he said when I talked with him at WonderCon, it wasn’t the violence, it was learning the Viking language. “It took me a long time,” he said.

In the interview, Travis talks about getting that language down, the shooting conditions in Ireland – “it just pissed down rain” – and how he prepares for the next shooting day when he’s already working long such long hours.

Vikings airs on Sundays at 10pm on The History Channel

For the full interview, click the audio link above or download it from iTunes  Read more

Review: ‘The Thirteenth Commandment’ at the Bridge Theatre (NYC)

As a teacher myself (what, you think I write for Daily Actor all day?) I understand the difficult in getting the attention of those students who use your class for doing their homework for other classes or, even worse, sleeping.  The premise behind The Thirteenth Commandment, a long-gestating play written by Joshua H. Cohen which is being performed for the first time by the Libra Theater Company at the Bridge Theater in New York, is that it is set in the aftermath of a teacher’s attempt to provoke his 11th grade students into questioning universally accepted truths by suggesting that the Holocaust might not have happened as it is recorded in their textbook. 

The ultimate aim of the teacher, Jason Efheim (Pete McElligot), is to have his students question the status quo of their working class ski town, hoping they will not follow in their parents’ footsteps of “pouring the coffee, plowing the snow, building the vacation homes” for tourists.  Naturally the community doesn’t see it that way, nor does Principal Pam McGarry (Jennifer Door White), who doesn’t know how to handle the controversy, or Natalie Levine (Nora Hummel), Jason’s loudmouth, deeply offended Jewish officemate. Likewise, Cory (Lauren Pennline), the resident student activist is infuriated (though she later weighs Jason’s words against her sincere belief in freedom of speech), and Jason’s very pregnant wife, Beth (Glenna Grant), who teaches algebra at the school, has her own questions about her husband’s aims as well as her personal status quo she has settled for.  Jason’s hopes on improving the lives of his students are centered on the impressionable and awkward Tom (Justin Danforth) whose father, Phil (Joe Fellman), is the embodiment of the town’s working class cycle as the school’s janitor.  Curiously enough, we never find out exactly what Jason said to his class because he partakes in some revisionist history of his own. Read more

‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’ Sets Date for its Final Performance

After 27 previews and 478 regular performances at the Imperial Theatre, the producers of the Tony Award-winning musical comedy Nice Work If You Can Get It have announced that the Broadway production will play its final performance on Saturday, June 15th.

The production began performances on March 29th, 2012 and opened on Apr 24th, 2012. A national tour will be launched in the 2014-2015 season.

For most of the cast who have been with the show since the beginning, it was definitely nice work.

The production stars two-time Tony Award-winner Matthew Broderick, Tony Award nominee Jessie Mueller, two-time Tony Award-winner Judy Kaye as Estonia Dulworth, Emmy and Tony Award winner Blythe Danner as Millicent Winter, Tony Award winner Michael McGrath as Cookie McGee, Tony Award nominee Jennifer Laura Thompson as Eileen Evergreen, Chris Sullivan as Duke Mahoney, Robyn Hurder as Jeannie Muldoon, John Treacy Egan as Chief Berry, Conrad John Schuck as Senator Max Evergreen. Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons returns to the role of Millicent Winter on Tuesday, April 30^th. Read more

Interview: Molly C. Quinn on Voicing Supergirl in ‘Superman: Unbound’

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:28 — 5.2MB)

Castle‘s Molly C. Quinn is taking up residence in Smallville. In the new DC animated film, Superman: Unbound, she play’s the Man of Steel’s cousin, Kara. Better known as Supergirl.

I talked to Molly at WonderCon where she talked about voice work, preparing the script beforehand and what superhero she’d love to play in a live-action film.

Superman: Unbound will be released on May 7th on DVD & Blu-Ray

For the full interview, click the audio link above or download it from iTunes 

So how do you feel about Supergirl as a character and the experience of voicing her?

Molly C. Quinn: I felt very similar to her, to be honest. She’s very headstrong and when she wants something, she’s gonna get it. When she wants to get something done, she’s gonna get it done. And she doesn’t need anybody else to tell her how to get it done or anything like that. She knows that she’s capable and she’s gonna do it. So that’s what I tried to bring to her and that’s what I connected with her about and that’s definitely what I took from her. Read more

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