How To Write an Acting Resume With No Experience (With Examples)

People who are new to acting may find writing a resume challenging when they're pursuing a job in this field. Learning to write an engaging resume that emphasizes your transferable skills can help you overcome this challenge and get an acting job. In this article, we describe the functions of an acting resume, how to write an acting resume with no experience, resume tips for entry-level actors and provide examples of acting resumes.

What is an acting resume?

An acting resume is a document that shows your acting qualifications and experience. You can write an acting resume for your talent agent and bring it to auditions to communicate your qualifications with casting directors. A strong entry-level acting resume communicates your skills, education and experience with acting to potential employers.

Related: Q&A: Should I Add A Picture To My Resume?

How to write an acting resume with no experience

Here are steps you can take for writing a resume for entry-level acting jobs:

1. Select a template

The first step to writing an acting resume is to choose a template. Here are elements of a strong acting resume template:

• White space: Resume templates with lots of white space can ensure the focus of your acting resume is on your skills and accomplishments, rather than design elements and other creative choices.

• Simple fonts: Choose a single, readable font for your acting resume to assure it's readable for casting directors.

• Black and white: It's best to avoid using color on an acting resume. Instead, stick to a black-and-white color scheme.

• Three columns: Most acting resumes are three columns wide to organize information in a readable manner.

• One page: Regardless of your experience, keep your resume to a single page throughout your career to follow industry practices.

Related: What Is a One-Page Resume Template?

2. Include personal information

Next, you can begin writing your resume by filling in personal information, including your name (or your stage name, if you plan to use a pseudonym), phone number, professional website and email address. You can also add a union title if you belong to an actor's union. If you have an agent, you can add their contact information, including their phone number and email address, instead of your own.

Unlike other professional resumes, acting resumes can also include personal statistics about the actor's appearance. This includes your height, weight, hair color and eye color. However, it's best to avoid adding your age to this section of your resume.

3. Add relevant experience

While you may have no acting experience on TV or film, you may have other acting or performance experience you can list on your acting resume. This may include student films, web series and community theater. If that is the case, you can use the next section of the resume to list your past acting or performance roles for a community theater, school or commercials. There are a few categories of experience on an actor resume that you can organize with the following headings:

• Film: When you've earned film roles, you can create a resume section to describe them. You can include independent films in this section.

• Television: You can add a section for television roles on your acting resume once you gain experience in this area.

• Theater: You can list your past stage roles on your resume to show casting directors your past experience in this area.

• New media: This category of experience includes web series, music videos and streaming roles.

For the television and film sections, you can list acting experience with the name of the production in the first column, the type of role you played in the production (lead or supporting) in the second column and the director's name in the third column.

In the new media section, you can do the same, but substitute the director's name for the producer of the new media production. For example, if you played a supporting role in a web series produced by Playhouse Productions, the production company could fill the third column of this listing on your resume.

For theater roles, you can add the title of the play to the first column, the name of the character you played in the second column and the name of the theater in the third column.

Related: How To Become an Actor With No Experience

4. Include education and training

You can also add your acting education and training, including classes, to your resume under a heading that says "training." You can organize this section in chronological order to help make it more readable. You can list acting degrees, such as a bachelor's degree, in this section, along with acting classes and workshops.

The type of the class or workshop (rather than the name) can go in the first column of your acting resume, with the acting teacher in the second column and the location in the third column. For example, if the name of the acting workshop is "Exploring Improvisation Through Movement," you would simply write "Improv" on your resume.

Related: How to Make an Actor Resume (With Template and Example)

5. Add special skills

Next, you can write the final section of your resume, which is special skills. You can use this section to describe any other skills you could bring to an acting role. Here are some examples of special skills for an acting resume:

• Musical instruments: If you know how to play the guitar, for example, this may be useful in acting roles.

• Languages and accents: Proficiency in more than one language can help you obtain acting roles for productions in multiple languages.

• Singing and dancing: If you have serious training in singing or dancing, you can add these skills to the end of your resume. This can help you land roles where you can use one or both of these talents.

• Martial arts and sports: If you're also talented at martial arts or other sports, you can include this information in the special skills section of your acting resume.

In addition to the above performance special skills for an actor resume, you can also add administrative and backstage skills to your resume, if they embody the types of roles you want to pursue. While they may not be as important to film or television roles, the following special skills can help you in a stage acting role:

• Set construction: The ability to construct sets may help you obtain beginning acting roles in theater and new media.

• Prop-making: If you're skilled in creating props, smaller productions may appreciate this special skill.

• Sewing: Sewing is a valuable skill for costume-making for stage and new media productions.

• Graphic design: You can use this administrative skill to help promote a show for a community theater, for example.

Tips for writing an acting resume with no experience

Here are tips you can use to help you write your acting resume:

• Add a headshot: When you bring your resume to auditions, you can staple an 8-inch by 10-inch headshot to the back of your resume so casting directors can reference it after your audition.

• Be truthful: You can communicate your personal integrity by being truthful on your acting resume at every opportunity. This can help you build a career on your true accomplishments.

• Get a second opinion: When you're writing your first acting resume, it can help to get an opinion from someone in the industry about the strength of your resume. An agent, for example, may have insights on what to include or cut from your resume as you develop your acting career.

• Avoid including extra roles: Work as an extra in the background of a film or TV show isn't considered acting for the purposes of your resume.

• Convert your resume to a PDF: Converting your acting resume to a PDF will make it easier to send and ensure your formatting stays intact when you use it to audition for parts.

Related: How To Get Acting Jobs (With Audition Tips)

Acting resume examples

Here are examples of acting resumes for people with no acting experience:

Example 1

AMY HELLER

Height: 5'5" | Weight: 130 lbs.

Hair: Blonde | Eyes: Blue

aheller@email.com | 555-555-5555
amyhelleracting.com

Film

A Flower OpensSupportingAnita Melton

New media

Mannequin CitySeries regularLights On ProductionsBlue MeadowsCo-StarCompany Pictures

Theater

Twelfth NightOliviaUniversity of Massachusetts Theater StudioThe CrucibleElizabeth ProctorAmherst Acting Studio

Training

UMass Amherst Department of Theater, B.F.A. Theater

Screen ActingAthena Williams
Scene StudyNathaniel Brown
ImprovAndrea Simpson
VoiceMary Lovette

Skills

Singing, contemporary dance, fluent in Spanish

Example 2

JACK MINTON

Height: 6' | Weight: 170 lbs.

Hair: Brown| Eyes: Green

agent@talentagent.com | 555-555-5555
jackminton.com

Film

Trading TraumaLeadWilder LeightonChasing AmberSupportingAnna Smith

New media

Next Up, New YorkSeries regularSnake River PicturesClassyRecurringScreen Productions

Theater

Death of a SalesmanWilly LomanUniversity of Idaho Theater DepartmentA Streetcar Named DesireStanley KowalskiSnowbell Studio

Training

University of Idaho, B.F.A. Theater
Unifying Acting Studio

ImprovCynthia Teller
Scene StudyBrandon Williams
ShakespeareBrandy Brown, Ron Potter
MovementEzra Fuller, Weston Sink

Skills

Karate - black belt, British accent, dancing
Awarded Best Actor for Unifying Acting Studio in 2015