Crafting the Perfect Actor Resume: 5 Tips to Stand Out in the Industry

Creating a competitive resume for acting is crucial in making an impression that’ll last with Casting Directors and Agents alike. Your resume serves as one of your first introductions to industry professionals, showcasing not only your experience on screen/on stage, but your dedication, versatility, knowledge, and potential in the acting industry.

With that being said, many actors make small mistakes when creating their resumes that can lead to less opportunities. In this blog I will break down these common missteps while sharing solutions and expert tips to help you create a polished, professional resume that stands out. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to refine your existing resume, this guide will ensure you’re putting your best foot forward to start booking just in time for Pilot Season!

Avoid These Common Mistakes

1. No Contact Info

This should be an easy one to avoid and/or correct if you do not have contact info on your resume. Contact info should be somewhere at the top of your resume so that it is easy to locate as this is where Directors will be looking to inform you of auditions or inquiries for work.

Solution: Add a professional email and a phone number to ensure you can be easily reached.

2. Commercial Credits

This mistake is commonly made amongst newer actors that just want to fill up their resume. Commercial credits are great and can make for a great portfolio, and eventually a commercial resume by itself.

My advice? Make 2 copies with one excluding commercial credits and the other with the commercial credits listed. Unless someone is specifically looking to see your commercial experience, more times than not they will only focus on your TV/Film and Theater credits.

Solution: Include only TV/Film credits and Theater credits. Keep commercial credits on hand only if specifically requested.

3. Formatting Issues

Most of the people reviewing resumes (Agents, Casting Directors, etc.), do not have the time to put together the pieces of an unfinished resume.

Before you send your resumes out to anyone, check that it is formatted to a pdf file. This is the most widely accepted file type that should stay true to how it looks from the editing process to the final product. In my own experience, I have created a resume in Microsoft Word and when exporting it as a pdf file, the format was changed and made my resume look a mess. I would recommend having a pdf file editor such as Amazon Acrobat that can directly edit a pdf file that you can send directly to someone.

Solution: Ensure that credits and headers are spaced out clearly and presented in a clean, professional format, such as a pdf file.

4. Listing Skills You Don’t Have / Omitting Skills You Do Have

Imagine listing horseback riding as a skill on your resume when you've only been horseback riding once. You then book a job and get to set just for you to have no clue what's going on around you. This is a very real thing that happens and could be a one-way ticket to running your credibility into the dirt with the production that you're working with, and the productions associated with them.

To play it safe, I would only list skills that you know you are proficient in, have practiced, or used those skills recently. Just because you played a sport or had a hobby 10 years ago does not necessarily mean that it needs to be listed. The skills you add on your resume are skills that you need to realistically portray on a screen. So if you have not worked on these skills lately, just don't list it for your own sake.

On the other hand, make sure you are not forgetting skills that you have learned and can use to stand out. Things like accents, hobbies, and sports that you are proficient in can not only help you book a job, but it can open up avenues that are specific to that skill that you might've never imagined. Acting is telling stories about things and people that either have happened or were made up, but either way, all types of skills are needed and used in different productions. But if you do not list these skills, you will not get the opportunity to show them off.

Solution: Include only the skills you are confident in performing on screen. Avoid listing skills you are merely familiar with, as this could damage your credibility if you cannot execute them in an acting context.

5. Updating Actor Resume Regularly

Updating your resume is honestly something that should happen as often as possible. Whether you just completed a class/training, booked a show that has recently aired, or just learned a skill that you are confident in showing off, you should always update your resume.

You could be putting yourself at a disadvantage with opportunities with Agents or Casting by having a resume that is not fully updated. I would recommend keeping a file in whatever software that you use, and making sure that you are able to plug in and remove things at a moments notice.

Solution: Regularly add new credits, skills, and training as they are completed. This keeps your resume current and ensures that outdated skills and credits are not included.

Summary

As a current working actor, while navigating my own career, I am learning that putting yourself in the best positions to succeed is the only way to go. And how do you do that? By having prepared material that shows that you have worked on the things that you need to as an actor behind the scenes to show that you are ready to be in front of a camera and on stage.

To be frank, a resume is not the only material that is needed to get yourself into doors where you are auditioning for bigger productions. However, having a polished, professional resume, in addition to your other materials can show that you are ready to audition and eventually book!

I hope this blog gave you at least one thing that you could use to improve on or correct your resume. And if it did please let me know! I will continue covering topics of materials and how you can enhance them to create materials that are bar none and hopefully get you into rooms you've been waiting to enter!

With that, Welcome to The Actor's Block!