fbpx
Acting Resume 101

Categories

Acting Resume 101Writing any resume is hard, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be easy. Understanding what directors search for is the key to unlocking the apparent mysteries when it comes to landing a role. Here are the tips you need to pull back the curtain of casting.

Ask Directors

The chance doesn’t come often, but when it does, grab hold and never let go. Ask every director or their assistant why you weren’t cast. Only they have the feedback you need to understand how to make your resume look better. They can see the holes you can’t. Pursue knowledge and you’ll be rewarded.

End in Mind

Why are you putting together this resume? What role is it for? What information are you trying to get across? Answer these questions and you’ll give yourself a barebones outline of what the resume should look like. Your most important information? List that first. Afterward, go back and fill in the blanks with extra stuff that makes your important stuff look even more impressive.

Don’t Waste Space

If the casting director does not care about your height and weight, why would you put that on your resume? Not only would adding that take up space, it would show a direct disregard of direction (and in acting, that’s a bad thing). On the bright side, if they don’t ask for one thing, that means more space to gloat about another.

Embellish

You should never lie on a resume, however how you say something doesn’t have to be fully accurate. Saying you were the leader of a troupe of four in your last show carries more weight than going with the title you had, Soldier 1. Though this isn’t possible in all place on the resume, definitely have fun trying out new ways to describe the more lackluster titles.

Related Articles

actors participating in a picket line for an Actors Equity Strike

A Curtain Call for Change: The Potential for a 2024 Actors Equity Strike

In February 2024, the theater world watched as the curtains metaphorically closed, not for intermission, but with the looming possibility of an Actors Equity strike. The Actors’ Equity Association, a union protecting more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers, sent a strong message to the industry by authorizing a strike against The Broadway League.

Read More »