Acting Resume Examples & Writing Tips

Key sections to include in an actor resume

First, let’s take a look at the key elements in an acting resume. These sections are typical for most professional resume templates and they’re perfect for most actor resumes, too. We also recommend the “audition resume” structure, but we’ll discuss that in our tips section below.

Header

Your resume header is where you’ll put your personal and contact details so the hiring manager has a single source of truth if they need to connect with you – no need to search; your name, email, phone number, and LinkedIn URL are all in one place. This section usually includes:

• Full name
• Job title
• Phone number
• Email address
• Location (city and state)
• LinkedIn URL

Here’s a sample header for an actress resume to get you started:

Resume summary or objective

Resume summaries and objectives are similar – they’re both brief descriptions that tell the recruiter why they should consider you for the role, detailing your qualifications. The main difference is which type of job-seeker they’re suitable for:

• Resume summary: Describes your work experience and achievements; best suited to seasoned professionals
• Resume objective: Describes your aspirations and skills; best suited to people without an extensive work history

Summaries and objectives are both equally valuable. Consider your background and experience and choose the one that suits your expertise.

Let’s take a look at an example resume summary for inspiration:

If you’d like some samples of both summaries and objectives, check out our wide variety of resume examples.

Work experience

Work history for acting resumes can be listed in a few different ways:

• Listed by company, like a typical resume
• Listed by type of role, such as theater, TV, or film

We’ll cover the usual resume format here and the industry-specific actor resume below in the tips section. Here’s an example of a standard work entry:

Education

Recruiters and directors alike want to see your education – the acting industry loves to see prestigious schooling at reputable colleges. This is particularly important if you’re building a student resume, as you probably don’t have any work experience yet.

Include your degree name, the institution where you earned it, its location, and your graduation date. If your GPA is above 3.5, feel free to add that, too.

Here’s an example:

We recommend adding any additional education you have, including seminars, workshops, or performance schools. This is an important section because hiring managers want to see you’ve been taught by master actors and theater experts.

Hard and soft skills

Let’s start with basic technical and soft skills. These are foundational skills that tell recruiters you have essential capabilities to get the job done:

Hard skills

• Improvisation techniques
• Emotional control and range
• Voice control
• Stage etiquette
• Memorization
• Stage management

Soft skills

• Teamwork
• Communication
• Creativity
• Adaptability
• Emotional intelligence
• Interpersonal skills

Hard and soft skills are important for every resume, but acting resumes need a third category: special skills. These are performance-specific skills like singing, playing musical instruments, and accents – anything that might enhance an acting performance.

Special skills for acting resumes include:

• Dance
• Musical instruments
• Language proficiency
• Singing
• Accents
• Combat knowledge
• Acrobatic abilities

Optional sections

These sections aren’t essential but help convey your qualifications to the hiring manager to make you stand out among other candidates. This is especially helpful to new students or people who have little work experience.

The top optional sections include:

• Volunteer work
• Certificates
• Hobbies and interests

These sections can help relay your skills, like listing your volunteer experience at the community theater or describing your interest in classic films. These sections are also a bit more personal, so they enable the hiring manager to get to know you.

Tips for writing an acting resume

Don’t stop at the basics – it’s a tough job market, and we want you to have the perfect application. These next tips enhance actor and actress resumes to help you stand out from the crowd.

Try a specialty acting resume format

A standard resume is fine, but using an acting resume structure (also called an audition resume) helps you show off your professional credits in an industry-specific way.

Start by organizing your credits by type, such as film, TV, and theater. Give each one a header and place a list beneath it providing the title of the work, the role type, and the director’s name. Like this:

You shouldn’t only list paid work. If you’re just getting started, feel free to list student productions and internships here, too. Check out our internship resume article for more insights and tips about how to include intern positions.

Provide a headshot and personal details

Standard resumes don’t include details like hair and eye color, but they’re essential to recruiters looking for the perfect fit for their acting role. What if the leading lady needs striking blue eyes?

We recommend providing your height, weight, and hair and eye color in your personal details. But don’t stop there – include a headshot so the hiring manager knows exactly what you look like. They might even know that you’re the one the second they see you.

Include your manager or agent

It’s important for recruiters to know who represents you, so include your agency's name, phone number, email address, and website. Specify your manager or agent, too, as recruiters may want to contact them to talk directly.

Ace your acting resume and land a great audition

The world of acting is intimidating, but you’ve got the skills to land the perfect role and grow your career – now you just need the perfect resume. Just follow our tips and build a strong application:

• List specialty skills, like dancing, singing, and accents
• Try an acting resume format to organize your roles
• Provide a photo and personal details to quickly convey your physical appearance
• Include all your acting education, including college degrees, workshops, seminars, and performance schools

Put these tips to use right away by taking advantage of CVwizard’s Resume Builder, a resume platform that offers deep customization and editing so that each application can be unique.