Actor/Actress Resume Examples and Templates for 2023

How To Write an Actor/Actress Resume

Unlike most industries, actors and actresses are assessed for potential casting call opportunities based on their professional portfolios and headshot. The effectiveness of your agent also plays an important factor in securing auditions. Instead, the resume functions as a supplemental document detailing all of your previous roles, theater organizations, studios, and directors.

This gives casting directors a full overview of your acting career, most compelling performances, and most prominent skill sets. Throughout this guide, we’ll provide expert tips and insights to help you craft an impactful actor/actress resume.

1. Write a compelling profile summarizing your qualifications

When you’re looking for an acting job, regardless of the medium, someone is looking for the right person to fill that role. To grab the attention of production studios, you’ll want to create a compelling opening summary that highlights your strongest performances and most prestigious roles. You also make a point to feature relevant awards to make a lasting impression on the casting director.

2. Add an accomplishment-driven professional experience section

To generate auditions for acting roles, you’ll want to feature key performances to grab the attention of studios, theaters, and production companies. Unlike a typical resume, bullet points are unnecessary in most instances. Directors are much more interested in the roles you’ve played and the types of productions you’ve been involved with. You should include this detail on your resume if you worked with a particularly prominent director.

3. Include relevant education, training, and awards

It’s important to list your formal education and training on your resume. Casting directors may be impressed by the program you attended. They might also be familiar with the person who provided you with vocal or acting training. You should also make a point to feature your awards prominently on your resume. Audience and critic reviews are one of the most reliable indicators of the success of your performances.

4. List relevant key skills and proficiencies

Unlike resumes for more traditional jobs, an actor’s resume will not be put through applicant tracking system (ATS) software. It’s almost certainly going to be first handled by a theater director or casting director for a film, TV series, or commercial. They want to see what work the actor has done in the past. It’s still beneficial to highlight key skills that directors will be looking for, including acting techniques and vocal ranges:

5. Include a headshot on your resume or separately

Although this can impact the format of your template, it is appropriate to include a headshot on an actor/actress’s resume. This would be inadvisable in standard instances due to the HR implications, but this situation is different. Casting directors need to see what you look like to identify the role they want you to audition for.

How to Pick the Best Actor/Actress Resume Template

You have more flexibility when selecting templates for actor/actress roles in comparison to other industries. Because you won’t be featuring long, detailed bullet points, you can choose a template that you find compelling so long as the information is still well-organized on the page. One thing to avoid is the use of graphics, as they won’t add any value to your document and may distract the reader from your performance history.

Actor/Actress Text-Only Resume Templates and Examples

Years of Experience

Frequently Asked Questions: Actor/Actress Resume Examples and Advice