The headshot expresses the look and feel of the actor at a glance, but the actors resume sells the versatility, skillfullness, and success of an actor before he or she ever shows up to the audition. The purpose of this article is to quickly review the central purpose of an acting resume and also what to think about when you are putting one together.

An acting resume should take up precisely one side of one page, and you will typically staple it to the back of your head shot. This small amount of space is all you have to represent yourself as a multifaceted potential working actor. In order to do that, you will have to do a little thinking about what the auditioners seem to be looking for. Think about the specific show they going to be doing and try to compare it to their previous work. What types of shows do these people typically produce, and who do they usually cast for the role you want? After you’ve thought about and understood these things, the next step is to try and give them what they want. You’re an actor, so this should be the easy part.

The only thing you need to realize is that your acting resume should represent the part you want to play more than you as an independent entity. So, you should twist and pull at the facts of your professional life until they fit, as closely as possible, the specific audition. I would never tell you to lie; just take a look at this example actors resume to understand what I’m saying a little better. This is a little bit of an extra investment in terms of time and energy, but it’s not that big an investment. Five or ten minutes per audition could be the difference between your next big break and your next season of waiting tables.