Writing your CV as an actor

As an actor, a CV ("curriculum vitae") is an important part of your actor's toolkit. It keeps a record of all your performances, and should be updated regularly. It is easy to forget, say two or three years down the track, what you performed in, who it was written by, and what the dates were... So update your performance CV after each new piece of work you complete, while the details are fresh in your mind.

Your actor's CV can then be used to apply to talent agencies, but it may also come in handy for other things, such as applying for a job as a drama tutor, writing a short biography for a theatre program, or to remind you of all your appearances to create an IMDB record. Equally, if you are wanting to apply for an arts grant in Canberra, a CV is essential. In all these circumstances, your performer's CV is going to sell your skill set very well, if you keep it up to date and looking schmick.

Here are a few tips on how to bring your actor's CV together.

Getting started If you have a few acting credits to your name, it's not difficult to start writing them out. But make sure your acting CV is separate from any CV you might have for other employment. If you work in the public service, or are a school student, or have a job at Woolies - these things aren't relevant to your Performance CV. Leave all those details out, and only focus on things relevant to acting, directing, producing, or related fields.

How long should it be? As with any job application, you don't want your CV to be too long. It's a snapshot of your work as an actor. Its job is to give the reader some idea of what you're capable of in a short space of time. So, 1-2 pages is good. 

Your details At the top of your CV you want your name and contact details clearly written. If you have an agent, you'd include their contact details in place of your own. 

In the event that you both have an agent and are using your CV to apply for a grant, your own personal contact details may be more important, so you may wish to say, "Represented by Such-and-such Talent Agency" as a separate line after your own details.

Your photograph You can include your actor's headshot on the top of your CV if you wish, but often you need to provide this separately - either when uploading an application to a website or sending it via email. So it's not 100% necessary to have a photo on your performer's CV.

Plus, when you apply for a role and are sending your CV as well, you want to send the headshot that looks similar to the role you're applying for. A generic headshot printed on your CV is simply a way of identifying you, in that instance.

What should I include in the body of my CV? Usually you list your most recent performances first, and your older ones last. Include the year the role was performed, the name of your character, the full title of the project, and the writer (more important for plays) and the project's director. You can also list your performances under subheadings, e.g. "Theatre", "Film", "Television", "Webseries", "TV Commercials" etc.

You can certainly include your drama school performances as part of this, as those roles show what you are able to do, but as you add more items that are separate from your training experiences, you may wish to drop them off the list.

Ultimately, an agent or casting director is ONLY interested in seeing your professional performance credits, not ones you did at high school or when you were little. 

What if I don't have many credits yet? Well, this is a tough one! If you are just starting out, it's ok to have just one or two things. But whenever you do a new role, add it!

What else should I include?

• Include any relevant education - where you studied drama, any workshops, any private coaching you've had. Include any courses you've done with Perform Australia. These give your CV credibility. You can name particular tutors here too, e.g. "Studied under James Scott".

• If you have any related skills, like modelling, directing, writing, dance or music, you can add these in a separate section in your CV, called simply, "Related Skills" or "Additional Skills".

• You may also like to include skills like Accents (list them) and you can put in brackets whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced, e.g. "Standard American (Advanced)"

• Skills like swimming, horseriding, or owning a driver's licence can also be listed, particularly if they are relevant to the role you are applying for

• If you have won any awards for acting, include them under a separate section called 'Awards'.

Presentation Make sure your CV is nicely presented. This means:

• Choosing a strong, simple font for your CV. It needs to be easy to read. 

• Limit your fonts - perhaps have one for headings and one for the body text. Or, simply use bold for headings and regular for body text.  More than two fonts and your CV will lose its professional look.

• Making sure your font size is easy to read - don't cram in too much information in one page or use a type that's too small for the average reader. Font size 11 or 12 is great.

• Correcting your formatting - if you have copied-and-pasted from somewhere else, make sure the type is the same size as what's already in your document. Fix up any line breaks, margins or columns so that your content is easy to follow.

• Checking your spelling and punctuation. At the very least, run a spell check!

• Capitalise titles of plays, films and TV shows. Use italics for titles if you wish. 

• Double checking your contact details are correct.

• Saving the final document as a PDF file, as this can be read by both Macs and PCs.

Now you're ready to go start applying for acting roles!

If you're looking for a great course to add to your CV under 'Education', why not try one of Perform Australia's short courses in Canberra? We have new ones every term to extend your capacity as an actor.