Theater is an ever-evolving industry, and breaking in can be a matter of making an instant first impression. Yes, headshots are key, and you better have the skills to back it up—but you’ll also need a professional-looking one-sheet résumé to show off your experience and training. Here’s how to make one.
Attach your theater résumé to the back of an up-to-date headshot, so that casting directors have an immediate sense of your presence. When they get to the résumé, here’s what it should look like:
Name, contact information, and union affiliation: Right up top, make sure everyone knows who you are and how to reach you. Include your full name, phone number, and email. (For a digital résumé, you can also link to a website or portfolio.) If you’re a member of a union such as Actors’ Equity Association, mention that here, as well as the name and contact information of your representation.
Physical attributes: Don’t go overboard here—that’s what the headshot is for. Include the basics such as height, eye color, and your vocal range.
Experience: Ideally, this should be the bulk of your résumé. Put your theater credits first, followed by any film experience, then television. Organize this section into three columns.
- Column one: Name of the show
- Column two: The role you played (for film and TV, this is the type of role: lead, costar, recurring, etc.)
- Column three: The name of the theater and director (for TV, this is the production company or network)
Education and training: Only lead with your college degree if it’s applicable to acting. Otherwise, list training, classes, and certifications here, especially examples where you learned a specific skill. This section is particularly important for early-career actors who don’t have a long list of credits.
“When you are first starting out, the first thing that casting directors look at is with whom you trained. Seeing acting coaches that they know and respect will open doors when you have a résumé with no real acting credits on it,” said Jackie Reid, owner of talent management company Lil Angels Unlimited, in an interview with Backstage.
An Actor’s Résumé: Special Skills & No-No Skills Special skills: Think of any other talent or ability you have that makes you stand out—but also make sure it could conceivably come in handy in the theater. Some examples include speaking multiple languages, stage combat, musical instruments, accents, gymnastics, mime, or ballet.
A theater résumé should be brief and no longer than one page. “Put yourself in the shoes of the person viewing it. In most cases, they only have a few seconds to look at your material,” acting career coach David Patrick Green told us. “If it is crowded and overwritten, it will be hard to latch onto what is relevant to their project. If you don’t have much acting experience, then substitute it with training and/or life experience. Tell the story you want people to hear.”
What not to include on your theater résumé
Incorrect or exaggerated information: Sure, you’re an actor, but making stuff up on your résumé is a no-go. It’s natural to feel like your résumé isn’t full enough, but padding it out with falsehoods or overstatements will almost certainly get you in trouble down the road. That goes for your experience and your skills—you’re not going to learn to play the guitar between getting cast and opening night.
Even if you didn’t mean to put the wrong info, double and triple check just to be sure. You don’t want an interested casting director to have the wrong email address.
Unrelated skills: Similar to the advice above, it’s OK if your special skills section isn’t packed to the brim. Only include relevant items. Yes, you might be good with arithmetic or Microsoft Word, but will that really help you get onstage?
Pre-recorded classes: Only list seminars, master classes, or training that you actively took part in and ended with a certificate or degree.
