How To Write An Actors Resume
January 26, 2009 by Stacy42
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 from there discuss what should and should not go in it and why.
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. What show are they putting up, and how does it compare to their previous shows? What types of shows do these people typically produce, and who do they usually cast for the role you want? Once you’ve considered what they’re looking for, the only thing to do is to try and give it to them. Since you’re a professional actor, this will come pretty naturally to you.
The main thing to have in mind is that your acting resume is not an extension of you as an actor, it is an extension of the part you want to play. Don’t be afraid to shape your resume to meet the needs of the character. Don’t lie; just take a look at this sample actor’s resume to get a better understanding of what I mean. This is a little bit of an extra investment in terms of time and energy, but it’s not that big an investment. The fifteen minutes that you spend for each audition could be the difference between your next big break and your next season of waiting tables.
I have several theories on this. Good looks are important but not everything. Watch old movies with actors like Cary Grant and Rock Hudson, study them. Yes study them. Look at how they walk, talk, carry themselves. You should carry yourself in life like a leading man or a leading lady.
Good looks are not important obviously many average actors like Tom Hanks and Maryl Streep are highly in demand but they don't have the best looks. They look average. But they sure can act and they carry themselves well.
Charisma I believe can be learned. There is this book right now "Talent is Overrated" by Geoff Colvin and he says that anything you want to achieve you can achieve through practice. In the old days in Hollywood during the studio system, the studios had complete control of an actor's life.
What they did with both men and women, is they would put through lessons where they were taught how to walk, how to talk, they were given makeovers. They molded average people into stars. How long does it take?
It depends. Actors like Morgan Freeman, Kathy Bates, etc.. it took them into their 40s and 50s to make it. If its your dream then why give up? Study actors lives, most of them didn't make it overnight.
This is called a photo release, or video etc. You can right it up yourself and print it out and have them sign. Or just print this one out.
http://www.danheller.com/images/FAQ/Business/model-release.gif