Actor CV Example

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Professional CV example for Actor

Actor

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[Emma Clarke]

[Actor]

[320 Black Swan Green, London, NW2 3HP | +44 (0) 1234 567890 | emmaclarke@email.com]

[Height: 5’7″, Eye Colour: Blue, Hair Color: Brown, Appearance: White British]

Personal Statement

A highly trained actress who has proven her versatility and skill in various feature films, stage productions, and TV shows, demonstrating her adaptability and commitment to the craft. Effectively communicates the emotional complexity of her roles and creates authentic and memorable performances.

Experience

Supporting Actress, “Shadows In The Wind” – Paramount Pictures, Los Angeles, USA | June 2022-Present

• Acted in a supporting role as Alyssa Wilde in this major feature film, contributing to its gross of $200 million worldwide.
• Collaborated closely with the director and main cast, leading to an increase in performance consistency.

Understudy, “A Streetcar Named Desire” – The Royal National Theatre, London, UK | January 2021-May 2022

• Served as an understudy for the leading role of Stella Kowalski, performing on stage on 6 occasions due to the lead actress’s unavailability.
• Received positive reviews for performances, resulting in being chosen as the primary understudy for subsequent productions.

Actress, “Embers” – BBC One, London, UK | May 2019-December 2020

• Performed as popular recurring character Rowan Elms in this BBC series, leading to an increased viewer rating during episodes featuring her character.
• Collaborated with the scriptwriting team to develop the character’s backstory, improving the overall narrative continuity.

Education

Drama and Theatre Studies – Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), London, UK | September 2012-May 2016

• Graduated with a First-Class Honours degree.

Performing Arts – The BRIT School, London, UK | September 2010 – July 2012

• Achieved 3 A levels (A* in Drama and Theatre Studies, A* in English Literature, A in Dance).

Skills

• Acting across various mediums (film, theatre, television)
• Versatility in acting styles (Classical, Modern, Improvisational)
• Accent and dialect training
• Physical theatre and movement
• Singing (Mezzo-Soprano)
• Dancing (Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary)

Certifications

• Screen Acting Certificate from Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London (2017)
• Stage Combat Certificate from The British Academy of Dramatic Combat (BADC), UK (2018)

Languages

• English (Native)
• French (Fluent)
• Spanish (Intermediate)

CV Vocabulary & Writing Tips

An acting CV doesn’t need to be a very wordy document. A lot of information will be presented in summary meaning you won’t need to write many long sentences or paragraphs.

Where you should add a little written flair is in the personal statement. In this short introduction, you can quickly tailor your application to the role on offer. Detail some of your most hirable acting skills or performances that could get the casting agent’s attention.

Of course, like any CV, your spelling and grammar need to be immaculate. Any errors will seriously dent your chances of getting selected. Additionally, where possible, make sure to use key terms and phrases that will demonstrate your knowledge and capability.

Words to Use

• Feature film
• Understudy
• Soap opera
• Co-star
• Improv
• Martial arts
• Lead
• Accent
• Supporting
• Endurance
• On stage
• Musical
• Featured
• Duet
• Script
• Stunt

Action Verbs

• Perform
• Read
• Dance
• Speak
• Reherse
• Interpret
• Prepare
• Act
• Sing
• Emote
• Collaborate
• Star
• Record
• Play
• Project
• Train

Actor CV Tips and Ideas

The acting profession can be tough. It is a competitive world where hundreds of candidates can be vying for the same job at the same time.

It is also a career path that requires frequent job searches with many acting jobs being shorter-term in nature. Therefore making sure your acting CV is up to standard is crucial.

Acting CVs need to be attention-grabbing for the right reasons. To get the correct effect, they need to be visually appealing and should also present the key details employers and casting agents will want to see from prospective talent.

The following guide will help you through the most important tips and tricks for getting the part and called into auditions successfully. It explains how to create the best looking resume possible, that includes the most important details that will hook casting managers.

To save even more time, simply use the information in the guide along with our CV builder tools to create a document that gets results.

Format

Reverse Chronological

Design

Create a well structured and organized template Write in a legible, simple font Balance white space and text on the page Avoid custom graphics and typefaces

Photo

Optional

Sections

Required:

• Personal details
• CV summary
• Work experience
• Skills
• Education

Optional:

• Projects
• Workshops and training
• Achievements
• Honours and awards
• Hobbies and interests

CV Length

1-2 x A4 pages

Format

The first thing that casting agents will be looking at is your most recent experience. Therefore you should make sure that your CV responds to that need immediately and by choosing the right template this can be done quite easily.

A reverse chronological layout is the best choice to communicate your most recent acting work. This dedicates the most area on the page to your work experience and also works backwards from the present to the past. This gives recruiters a much better idea of how your career has developed in addition to showing them exactly what they want to see first.

Design

A CV needs to look good to perform well, but it doesn’t need to be a work of conceptual art. In fact, sometimes less is more when you design your final template.

The most important thing a CV can do is stand out visually and be easy to read. Therefore, it’s essential to create a design that is well organised primarily and that has the right embellishments.

Embellishments could be a conservative use of colour (neutral colours work best in this case), the use of simple borders and headers to organise the information on the page as well as a well-chosen font.

When it comes to the text, it’s best to keep things simple with an easy-to-read typeface like Times New Roman and Arial. Ideally, try to balance the amount of text against the available white space of the page. Too much text can make the document much more difficult to read, which could slow your progress.

Where possible, avoid using customised or downloaded fonts, borders and graphics. These will often clutter the design and can even make your CV perform worse when up against recruitment software like applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Our CV generator tools can help you save time with this step. We offer a range of ATS optimized, stylish designs that you can easily modify with your own career information.

Photo

Unlike many other professions, a photo on a CV can be beneficial for actors seeking their next role. This is not an essential requirement. After all, you should be submitting professional headshots and acting stills along with your application.

Nevertheless, prospective candidates can still add in a photo of themselves on the page, space permitting. This should be a professionally taken picture and ideally should be sized 4.5cm by 3.5cm.

Sections of an Actor CV

You will need to include more personal details on an acting CV than you normally would on a regular document. Normally it’s enough to just add in your contact information and nothing else.

For actors, however, it is necessary to add key information such as your age, height, appearance and voice quality. This is essential to state up-front as casting managers will be looking for specific profiles to fit certain roles.

Beyond this, you should also add the most important details about your career so far. This being your skills, acting experience and your training in the arts. Therefore, you should include the following sections at the bare minimum:

• Personal details
• CV summary
• Work experience
• Skills
• Education

Further to this, you should also seek to add some extra information that could give you an edge over the competition. This could be in relation to any awards you’ve won for your work, or any special workshops you’ve participated in. This can be reflected with these optional sections:

• Projects
• Workshops and training
• Achievements
• Honours and awards
• Hobbies and interests

CV Length

A good CV normally errs on the shorter side. 1-2 A4 sized pages are normally enough to give the casting agent a good idea of if you’re a decent fit for the role or not.

If possible, try to get the length down to a single page, so it can be skim-read in a few seconds. This will give you a much better shot at getting called in for an audition, especially if the role is a popular one.

Actor CV Section Headings

A well-written Acting CV should include this sections:

Work experience

Your work experience is going to count for a lot in an acting role. In this section, you should list most if not all of your credited parts. This should include the following details:

• Your role (whether you were the lead, supporting, or featured actor etc)
• The media you performed with (i.e. television, theatre, film etc)
• The dates you participated in the production run
• The director/production company’s name
• The location or venue you performed at

If you’ve had a lot of roles, the information above is usually enough. The work experience section for an actor only really needs to list your most recent and important credited roles.

Depending on your level of experience, you may choose to split this part of the resume into different sections focusing on the different media you worked in. For example, grouping all your television or theatre roles together. This will help the recruiter see your range, and how experienced you are with certain media much faster.

Skills

A skills section for an acting CV is going to need to focus on some very specific abilities. This will focus on your range as an actor as well as your physical capabilities as well as any special skills you have. A few examples of what you could list for this include:

• Foreign languages
• Accents
• Vocal tones
• Fitness levels
• Dance skills
• Martial arts training
• Ability to play an instrument

Education

Training and education play a very important role in getting hired for acting roles. Whilst it is possible to get by with just experience alone in the theatrical arts, demonstrating the proper preparation can significantly improve your chances of getting selected.

If you’ve earned a degree in Drama, Theatre Studies, or Acting, this should be displayed in the education section. You should indicate:

• The name of the course
• The years of study
• The awarding institution
• The grade you achieved

The education section can also be used to list down any workshops, training courses or seminars you’ve taken. Alternatively, these can be spun off into their own section if you have enough space available.

Honours & awards

If you’ve impressed with one of your performances to the extent that you received an award, this should receive special attention on your CV. Add this information to a seperate honours and awards section and for each entry note:

• The name of the award
• The awarding body
• The year it was presented to you

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