Acting Resume: The Ultimate Guide

Here's How to Make an Acting Resume, Step by Step.
​(plus a free Google Docs template)

Did you know? On average, casting directors get about 3,000 submissions per role.

Out of those, they audition 30 people.

​And out of those, they choose just one.

This means you only have a 1% chance of getting in the room every time you submit yourself.

And even if you're one of the lucky few to get called in, you still only have a 3% chance of booking the role out of everyone at the audition!

This is why your three primary marketing materials – your headshot, reel, and resume – are so important.

Without them, you'll always struggle to get called in for auditions, and with them, your odds of booking the job increase greatly!

Today, we'll be going into depth on your acting resume.

What is an Actor Resume?

An actor resume is a simple, one page sheet that shows the most noteworthy roles you've played, along with your training, special skills, and contact information.

It's meant to be a quick, easy-to-look-at sheet that can tell casting directors about your experience.

"But how do I make an acting resume with no experience?"

Well, don't worry just yet. There are plenty of ways to book roles with no experience, and believe it or not you can absolutely create an acting resume without any credits at all. We'll discuss that soon.

​What is an Actor's Resume Called?

This is a common question, but the answer is simple: It's called an Actor Resume. There is no special terminology for it!

​Some people call it an Acting CV (curriculum vitae), which is Latin for "course of life" – essentially someone's life work, consolidated onto one page.

​What Does an Acting Resume Look Like?

An acting resume is broken up into four sections, which we'll be covering in depth in this article:

• Section 1: Personal Information – Here is where you'll include your contact info, union affiliation, some descriptive info about yourself, and in some cases a small headshot.
• Section 2: Credits – This will be the bulk of your resume as you start to book work in the industry. Most casting directors review this section first to ensure you're experienced.
• Section 3: Education & Training – When you're first starting out, training will be the biggest section on your resume. Here you'll list schools, workshops, and other classes you've attended (including working with any private coaches).
• Section 4: Special Skills – Although most new actors don't think about it, special skills are extremely important. Sometimes they'll be the only reason you get called in for an audition!

See the example below so you have an idea of where each of these sections looks like:

​Free Template:
​Acting Resume Template for Google Docs

• The link will take you to the Google Docs page.
• Once there, click "File" at the top left.
• Then click "Make a Copy" and it will open an editable template for you in your own Google Drive.

Open the Template

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​Can You Audition Without a Resume?

You can! But keep in mind that it's generally harder to get invited to auditions without a resume. Here are some ways to get called in without a resume:

• Become friends with people in high places. You can meet people by attending film festivals, playhouses, or other places where people in the industry might congregate (such as industry events like Actor's Pro Expo) to meet people. Then if you keep in touch with them, they might overlook the fact that you have no resume and let you audition for a role (if they like you).
• Shoot a scene for your reel. You can hire a reel production company like Actor Screener Shoot to shoot a scene for your reel, and if your acting is on point, casting directors will overlook the fact that you have no resume or credits and just call you in based on the clip you send them. In some cases, a single great clip alone is enough to get you in the door.
• Create a resume without any credits. If you have any training (even just high school or middle school theater programs), you can list it on your resume. Casting directors want to know about more than just your credits, such as your education, special skills, and even personal information like height and vocal range.
• Become younger again. Just kidding! But seriously, if you're a student and haven't graduated high school or college, casting directors are much more lenient and don't care if you have no credits on your resume. The more years past graduating you are, the harder it becomes to get in the room without a resume.

​How Do You Build a Resume?

"Can you put student films on a resume?" Absolutely! The fastest way to start getting credits is to audition for unpaid student productions.

You can submit to projects through websites like Actor's Access or Backstage, and then whenever you book a role you're entitled to immediately add it to your resume – even before they shoot! And keep in mind: if you're hired to act in a production and it gets cancelled, you can still list the credit on your resume because you booked it.

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Acting Resume Basics

In this section, we'll cover everything required for a professional acting resume, starting from the top (Personal Information) and moving all the way down to the bottom (Special Skills).

Section 1: Personal Information

This is where you'll list the basics, such as your contact info and descriptive information about yourself. Use the following checklist and include everything you can (it's OK if you don't have everything listed below):

• Your name, phone number, email address (don't include your home address), and website.​ Make sure your email address is professional, meaning something like martin.bentsen@gmail.com or martin.bentsen.actor@gmail.com. Avoid unprofessional email addresses like princessxoxo@gmail.com. Having a website is not mandatory but can definitely make you appear more established.
• If you have an agent or manager, list their contact information. Some may prefer you to hide your contact information and only list theirs, but you can speak with them about it.
• Include your height, weight, hair and eye color. If you're in the US, be sure to use inches and feet, and if you're outside the United States use centimeters. Do not include your age unless you are under 18.
• Include a headshot to fill up space. Although it's true that you'll have your headshot stapled to the back of your resume, you can also include a different one printed on the front as a way to fill up some of the white space (especially if you don't have many credits yet).
• Include vocal type or range if you sing. An example would be Tenor, or Low E-Flat to High D.
• Include union affiliations. If you're just starting out, chances are you're not a part of a union yet, so you should write "Non-Union." Otherwise you can write SAG-AFTRA or Equity/AEA. Some people include SAG-AFTRA Eligible if they are eligible to join the union.

Section 2: Credits

​This is where the bulk of your resume content will be, unless of course you're just starting out (in which case the bulk of your resume will be under Training & Education). Follow the below guidelines to ensure your resume looks professional:

• What to Add: It's OK to add roles you've played within the past 5-10 years, but you shouldn't go much further back than that. For instance, if you're in your forties, avoid including roles you played when you were in high-school. But if you're only 20 and you don't have much on your resume, you can absolutely include productions you worked in when you were 10-15 years old. Feel free to include anything you've been cast in, and when you're first starting out, it's completely fine to include roles from classes and workshops.
• Alignment: Be sure to have the name of the production in the left-most column, the name of your role in the middle column, and the name of the director or theater company (whichever is more well-known) in the right column.
• Categories: ​Usually, you'll see credits listed under two categories: Film/TV and Theater. When you're first starting out, it's OK if you only have credits from one of these, like Theater. Just be sure you divide up the categories properly, and don't include a category if you have no credits for it.​ Eventually, you might have two separate resumes, one entirely for Film/TV and one entirely for Theater, and then you can further break up your categories into Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional Theater, or Feature, Short Film, Prime-time TV, etc.

• Extra Work: "Should you put extra work on your acting resume?" No, it's not a good idea to include extra (background actor) work on your resume. It doesn't really tell the casting director anything useful because background actors often don't need specific skills and are hired frequently without auditions. Another reason to avoid including it is that the more extra work you include, the more likely a casting director will think you specialize in that instead of speaking roles.
• Character Names: For Theater, it's best to include character names unless the show is not well-known. For little-known productions, you can include the character name and then in parentheses next to it, add "cast," "ensemble," etc. For Film/TV, it's generally best to avoid character names completely and just use the role descriptions ("lead," "supporting," etc.). See the example above to get an idea.
• Famous People: If you had the opportunity to work with a famous actor in a scene, add their name in parentheses next to the role. An example would be (w/ Lindsay Lohan). This lets casting directors see that you're the real deal.
• Voiceover Credits: "How do you list a voice over on a resume?" Well, you should generally add another section to your resume if you do voiceover work. For voiceover credits, you'll list them out exactly the same way as for Film/TV credits, with three columns.
• Commercial Credits: It's generally not a good idea to list commercials on your primary resume. You should create a completely separate resume for commercials and only email it to people when requested. This is because of possible conflicts of interest (for example, if you were the lead in a Coca Cola commercial, PepsiCo would NOT want you to be in their commercial because people might think of Coca Cola instead).
• Lead With Your Most Impressive Stuff: It doesn't matter whether you played a role 10 years ago or this year, just put your best credits first. Do not include dates of productions on your resume.

​Section 3: Training & Education

In this section, you'll list out your formal training (what you majored or minored in if related to acting) and/or any noteworthy acting workshops, seminars, studio classes, master classes, or private coaching you've taken. This also includes special training not directly related to acting, such as singing or stunt-work.

​If you're new to the acting world and don't have many (or any) credits yet, you should spend some time making sure this section stands out, and then as you start filling up your resume with credits, you can cut back on training and make this section smaller.

What Casting Directors are Looking For:
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• Names of program directors, teachers, or educators they recognize (try typing your instructors' names into Google – if their name shows up in lots of articles, chances are casting directors will recognize them).
• Names of schools or workshops they recognize (you can use the same strategy as above to see how well-known the workshop/school is).
• Length of time you studied a particular skillset, and how recently you studied it.
• Type of training you've had.

There's no specific right or wrong format to list out your training, but just make it extremely easy for a casting director to see what you've done – especially if you don't have many credits.

Using a two-column format like below can make it easy for them to read, and including dates is optional but recommended if you completed the training within the past 2-3 years.

If you need to fill up a lot of space, feel free to list bullet points under each training, showing specifically what knowledge was gained. ​Example:

2011-2015, BFA in Acting
University of Southern California, Los Angeles

• Pursued my passion for acting and singing
• Won “Best Actor" Award in USC's Student Film Festival
• Starred as lead in three college theatre productions

​Section 4: Special Skills

​Did you know that special skills can help you jump past actors with decades of training and credits? It's true. If you know how to play the piano but the more experienced actor you're competing against doesn't, you'll be chosen for the role over them (if the role requires a piano-player).

Not only do special skills help you book more roles because they're unique and less people have them, but they also use up some of that dreaded white space on your resume.

"So what skills should I put on my acting resume?" Here are some examples:

• Special Abilities (singing, cry on cue, etc.)
• Dancing Ability (hip hop dance, ballet, etc.)
• Combat Training (weapons handling, marital arts training, etc.)
• Accents (Southern dialect, Irish accent, etc.)
• Fitness Level (7% body fat, 6 pack abs, etc.)
• Fluency in Other Languages (Spanish, Mandarin, etc.)
• Musical Instruments (guitar, violin, piano, etc.)
• Driver's License (yes, this can be listed since many people don't have one)
• Acrobatic Abilities (flipping, juggling, etc.)
• Sports/Games (skiing, fencing, golf, chess etc.)

As with your credits, be sure to put whatever you think is most noteworthy first so casting directors notice it. And don't say you can do something if you're not actually amazing at it!

General Tips for Your Acting Resume

• It must be easy to read. This is why using columns and sections is absolutely critical. Make sure to use professional fonts like Times New Roman, Helvetica, Garamond, or Arial.
• Each heading should stand out. The different sections of your resume, such as TV/Film, Theater, Training & Education, etc., should be bigger and/or a different style than the rest so they stand out. Avoid using different colors because some casting directors print resumes on black and white printers, and your section headings won't stand out.
• Your resume MUST be saved as a PDF format. When emailing your resume, do not send Microsoft Word formats. Unlike most other industries, ATS (applicant tracking system) is not used to automatically screen resumes, so there is no need to send in a .doc format. Most casting directors dislike opening .doc format resumes because the size and style changes on different computers, and what might have been one page with perfect alignment on your computer will suddenly look all messed up (and sometimes even two pages) on someone else's computer. PDF format almost always keeps the alignment perfect no matter where you send your resume.
• When printed, it must be one page and cut to fit on the back of your 8" X 10" headshot. You’ll align your resume so it fits perfectly on the back of your headshot, and then staple it at all four corners (don't use tape or paperclips). Then you can cut off the extra paper with scissors. Don't print your resume directly on the back of your headshots because it's going to change every time you book a new role and you'll have to throw all those headshots with the old resume on them out. Watch the video below to learn how to attach your headshot to your resume:

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​Advanced Resume Tactics

Now that you understand the basics of a professional acting resume, it's time to talk about some advanced tactics you can use to make your resume stand out.

​Awards and Quotes

A simple way to stand out from other actors is to include noteworthy reviews or quotes from you've worked with in the industry. You can list 2-3 simple one-sentence reviews at the very bottom of your resume (center-aligned), such as "John Doe was one of the most consistently on-time and professional actors I've ever had the pleasure of working with. – Jane Smith (Director, Bluefin Dolphins)"

You should also include any awards you've won in parentheses next to the role you played. Keep in mind that these awards should actually be noteworthy and professional – don't mention the high school "Funniest Actor" award you won for the little video you made with your friends.

​Resume Objective

A resume objective tells casting directors right off the bat what your goals are... or if you do it right, why they should hire YOU over other actors for this specific project.

Many actors don't use a resume objective at all, but those who do will write something simple like:

Objective: To become a successful, world-renowned actor who is reputed for her craft and compelling performances on stage and film.

This is OK, but is focused on YOU, instead of the production. Casting directors don't care about you, they only care about what you can do to help them.

A more strategic way of writing a resume objective is to do a bit of research on the production and then tailor your objective for the type of project you're submitting to. If you're submitting to a slapstick comedy TV show, for instance, chances are the production wants an actor who can make the audience laugh. So you can customize your resume objective like so:

Objective: To bring smiles and laughter to the faces of as many people in the world as possible through my acting.

If you're submitting to a dramatic indie film, think about the purpose of the film... is it trying to share an important message with the world? Is it trying to make a political point? Make an educated guess about the purpose of the project and then tailor your resume objective to that.

Since it's right at the top of your resume, the casting directors will notice and be more likely to bring you in for an audition:

Can You Lie on Your Acting Resume​?

No, but you CAN manipulate your resume, and we'll discuss how in a moment.

​Do NOT outright lie on your acting resume because it can immediately get you blacklisted by the industry.

An example of a lie is completely making up a fake credit on your resume – for instance, saying you played the lead in a student (or professional) film if you never actually did. If found out, casting directors will share your name with each other so you never get hired again.

Another example of lying is called "padding" your resume, which is also frowned upon in the industry.

An example would be taking a tiny production of Les Miserables you did at a school and removing the "school" part so it looks like you were in a Regional or Off-Broadway production.

Lying aside, there are ways to manipulate your resume so a casting director feels more compelled to bring you in. Here are three ways to do it:

• Push Certain Roles Higher: If you want more Film/TV roles, move those types of credits higher on your resume. Minimize your theater credits and mention the smallest of the small film credits you've done (even if they were just tiny unpaid student films) just to give the impression that you're more experienced in Film and Television.
• Customize the Special Skills section of your resume: To show how qualified you are for a role, move to the beginning or bold your most relevant special skills so the casting director notices them!
• Create separate resumes for each type of work you do: Eventually as you build up your credits, you can make separate resumes for separate types of work, such as a Film/TV Resume, a Theater Resume, and a Voiceover Resume.

​Cover Letter

Although technically not part of your resume, a cover letter is extremely important because it's what will convince the casting director to look at your resume.

Think of your cover letter as a simple, short introduction that tells the casting director what makes you different and why they should consider you for the role. Watch this video to learn about cover letters and how to write a great one (it's a bit more complex than most people think):

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Want Success? Break the Rules

Most actors are afraid to do things without first asking, "Is this OK?"

​At the end of the day, this is YOUR resume and no one can tell you how to design it but you.

Following the guidelines in this article is a great start, but if you feel compelled to change things to make your resume more YOU, feel free. This includes using fonts you like, colors you like, and even deciding whether or not to include a Resume Objective, Special Skills section, or Training & Education section.

​There are plenty of working actors who don't even use a resume because they've made so many contacts in the industry that they no longer need one (or a headshot and reel for that matter).

Don’t be afraid to step out of the mold and break the rules. You don’t have to ask permission. The sooner you feel confident in your choices, the sooner you'll start seeing more acting success come to you!

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Further Reading

If you enjoyed this article, you'll probably enjoy these:

• How to Become an Actor: The Ultimate Guide
• Actor Headshots: The Ultimate Guide
• Demo Reel: The Ultimate Guide for Actors