How to Make a Acting Resume

Like any other job, you need a resume for acting. However the resume of an actor is very different from that of most other employment situations. Acting resumes are concerned with your past acting work, training and personal attributes including physical features and skills.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Word processing program
• Printer
• Paper
• Paper cutter
• Head shot
• Stapler

1. Open a word processing program. Choose a font that is easy to read, bold and fairly standard. In the center of the page type your name. Make this bold and the largest font on the page, around a size 18 is good.

2. Skip a line, and directly under your name type any acting union affiliations you have. If you're SAG, AFTRA or AGMA, write the name of the union. Use a font one to two sizes smaller for this.

3. Move to the next line and add your agent and manager's information. Insert the company's logo, then type their phone numbers. If you have only one representative, then center this on the page. If you have both an agent and manager, then have them split center with their information.

4. Skip a line and type your personal information: height, weight, eye color and hair color. These should be in a font the same size as that of your union affiliations. Use two lines to list this information, and have the items split center so there are two bits of information per line (for example, height and weight, eye color/hair color).

5. Skip another line. On the left side of the page type the heading "Film." Bold this word. Underneath list all your film roles on separate lines. Each line should have the name of the film, the role you played and the director's name. If you don't have any film roles, then skip this section.

6. Skip another line. On the left side of the page type the heading "Television." Underneath, list all your television roles on separate lines. Each line should have the name of the television series, the type of role you played (lead, guest star, recurring, co-star, featured) and the director's name. If you don't have any television roles then skip this section.

7. Skip another line. On the left side of the page type the heading "Commercials." Underneath, list all your commercials on separate lines. Or you can write "Conflicts upon request" or "List upon request." If you're just starting out and don't have a lot of credits, you may want to list your commercials. However, if you have a lot of conflicts with other commercials, you would want to write "Conflicts (or list) upon request."

8. Skip another line. On the left side of the page type the heading "Theater." Bold this word. Underneath, list all your major theater roles on separate lines. Each line should have the name of the play, the role you played and the director's name/venue of the performance. If you don't have any theater roles, then skip this section.

9. Skip another line. On the left side of the page type the heading "Training." Bold this word. List all your acting training. On each line include the type of acting studied (cold reading, scene study, commercial technique, audition performance, etc.) followed by the name of the instructor and years studied.

10. Skip another line. On the left side of the page type the heading "Special Skills." Bold this heading. Underneath, type all your special skills such as languages spoken, talents, unique hobbies and more. List these on a single line or two, separating each skill with a comma.

11. Print your resume. Cut it down to be 8 by 10 inches. Staple this to the back of your head shot.

Tips & Warnings

• Print your resume on card stock so it's stronger and won't easily bend or tear.
• Don't lie. You don't want to be caught in that lie later and look like a fool.

References

• Acting Resume Tips
• Acting Resume Sample
• Acting Resumes