Discussion: Good resumes for actors?

I keep three resumes updated on my computer. But I usually create a new one for every audition situation.

The first one is for my eyes only. It includes everything I've ever done, runs for about 8 pages, and is only used as a reference for the other resumes.

The second one is limited to two pages, and has sections outlining my stats (physical description), skills (special abilities, training), and recent (past 5 years) history in theatre, radio & TV commercials, film, awards won, singing/musical skills, festivals/tours I've participated in, and workshop/directing experience.

The third one is whatever I can keep from the second resume so long as it fits on ONE page.


The one-page resume is really the most important. If someone's reading my resume to get an idea of what I can do, I want them to see it immediately. And I don't want to risk them missing anything if they happen to not turn over the page.
This is why I usually create a new copy for each new interview/audition. For theatre, they tend to be interested in my skills and range of characters, but I can cut the bits about commercials. For TV auditions,
I'd give a far briefer summary of my theatre experience, but be detailed about my on-camera experience and range of skills (including sports, drivers licenses, etc).
I'll only present the two-page resume if I'm reasonably confident that they'll take the time to read it.

Sometimes it's a toss-up as to keeping my most impressive credits or keeping my most recent. Because I have a pretty constant track record, I think it looks better to keep my most recent credits. (I might have full details of the past five years...by which I mean Play title, character, director, theatre company, and year...and then basic detail of stuff older than that: just the Play title and the theatre company.
But it might be pertinent to include details relevant to the job I'm going for...for a musical I'd probably include details of past musicals even though they might have been quite some time ago.
In general, although there may be a lot of pride and sentimental value in mentioning that great starring role I played in 1991, it really doesn't mean that much to someone who wants to know what I'm capable of NOW.


For someone with fewer credits, who may have just left school for instance, there's no reason why you shouldn't include everything. But eventually as you get more and better experience, I'd suggest dropping your least favourite credits rather than making the resume too big.

If you're going to list a skill (juggling, saxophone,...etc), make sure that it's something you could easily do tomorrow on camera if they wanted a credible juggler/sax player...not something you could get back up to speed if you had 6 months practise.


My tip on how to make it look great is all about the formatting and making it clear to read. (Again, trying to clutter it with too much can be detrimental...however, fit as much as you can while keeping it neat and readable.)

Clear headings. Relevant categories. Information well set out across the page. Organised by year, most recent first.



Cheers,
Craig

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