How to Make a Resume for a Beginner Actor
Along with head shots, your resume is the most important marketing tool you have for your acting career. Agents and casting directors can get an idea of who you are, the type of characters you play and what skills you have before ever meeting you. A good resume will get you the audition you need to start your acting career.
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Instructions
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Make sure your resume will measure 8 by 10 inches. Your resume will be attached to the back of your head shot, which needs to be 8 by 10 inches, so the resume needs to be the same size. Many actors print their resume straight onto the back of their head shot. Either method is acceptable. If you choose to attach the resume and head shot, use one staple in each corner to attach them. Always attach them before auditions; you do not want to ask the casting director to borrow a stapler.
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Format your contact information and characteristics. You want to start the resume with the same information as any other resume. Include your name, phone number and email address. Some actors include an address, others do not. This is because resumes get passed around town and some actors do not feel comfortable with everyone knowing their address. Below your contact information should be a short list of your physical characteristics. These would include height, weight, hair and eye color. You will also include your vocal range, if you audition for musicals, and any union affiliations you have.
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Format the experience, education and skill sections. Most actors will list theater experience before experience in other mediums such as film, TV or commercials. This is because casting directors know theater. They know the characters, and it will help them to quickly understand how you are being cast. Below theater experience is any experience you have had in other mediums. Next, you want to list any education you may have had. If you have not had any, do not include an education section. Last, will be a section dedicated to special skills. These would be things like dialects, juggling, gymnastics or other skills you feel might be used in a production.
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Tips & Warnings
When you are first starting out with a career in acting, you will not have the experience and work you need to present a developed resume. Do not put experience as an extra on the set of a film or TV show as acting experience. Instead, check with local film departments for opportunities to act in student films, do local theater and take any acting job you can get to help develop a full resume.
Keep your resume at one page.
List any professional experience first.
Consider using your cell phone number and no address due to the number of people who have access to your resume.
References
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