An acting resume is very different from a business resume, but no less important. Your acting resume should never be longer than a single sheet of paper and it will need to fit on the back of your 8×10 headshot. Together, these two items create your most important calling card as an actor. Like any resume, you’ll want to avoid crazy fonts, multiple colors and any other antics that are generally frowned upon on any other resume. Remember that as an actor, this is still a professional resume, and should look like one. Here are the 4 things you will want to include on your resume:

Header

The header on an acting resume is much like the header on a regular resume. In it, you will want to include:

  • Name (Professional name, if different from your given name).
  • Contact Information.
  • Brief physical description including height, weight, hair and eye color.
  • Any union affiliation.

Acting Experience & Roles

In this section, you will include any and all acting experience you’ve had, with the exception of playing an extra. You can divide the sections into Theater roles and Film/ Television roles. If you have experience in a Web Series, you can also create a section for that. You can also create separate resumes for theater auditions and for film/ television auditions and only list the applicable experience. Some actor will list their biggest roles first, while others go chronologically starting with their most recent role. Remember, your resume will only be one page, so if you’ve done a great deal of work only list the most recent or most pertinent.

Training and Education

Here you can list any classes you have taken, instructors or coaches you have worked with or any degrees if you have them. If you took classes in college but don’t have a degree, you can list those here as well.

Special Skills

If you know how to juggle, sing, dance or are proficient with accents, you’ll want to list them here. If all you do is sing in the shower, however, you might not want to list singing as one of your skills. On the other hand, if you are passionate about Karaoke, it’s okay to list “mad karaoke skills” under skills. That lets casting agents know you aren’t intimidated by singing on stage, but don’t have any formal training. Do list your skills, but also be honest about your skill level.