How To Write An Acting Resume
The headshot expresses the look and feel of the actor at a glance, but the actors resume sells the versatility, skillfullness, and success of an actor before he or she ever shows up to the audition. The purpose of this article is to go back over the reasons for creating an acting resume and from there discuss what should and should not go in it and why.
An acting resume should take up precisely one side of one page, and you will typically have it stapled to the back of your head shot. This small amount of space is all you have to represent yourself as a multifaceted potential working actor. 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? After you’ve thought about and understood these things, the next step is to try and give them what they want. Since you’re a professional actor, this should be the easy part.
The main thing to have in mind 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 take a look at this example actors resume to understand what I’m saying a little better. 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 very well spell the difference between getting a part or not getting it.
