Actors Resume Career: Acting Resumes for Actresses

Resumes for actresses are like anything else; they require all the same things that a male would need, but slightly different. You probably already know the sections you need in your resume, and the types of acting resume formats you should use. Of course, if you don’t already know those things, read on because we will go over them here. But there are also some extra ingredients that you need to know about to ensure that your actress resume is not quite exactly like an actor resume.

How To Start An Acting Career As An Actress

The difference is subtle but not difficult to grasp. The only thing you have to think about is this: What is the difference between actresses and actors? In terms of parts, audition, and casting, what is it that you need to do differently than if you were a male performer applying for a role in the same show?

This will vary somewhat depending on whether you are a theatre actress, whether you are working in television or film, commercial work, voice-overs, whatever. You just need to think about the specifics. For example, there are a usually a lot more women auditioning for roles in theater shows than their are men. Of course this varies by location, but what you should understand is that I’m not trying to tell you what you need to do, because that will be different depending on where you are located, what type of work you want, what types of skills you have, what you look like, etc.

Acting Careers Begin With Auditions

So then we’ll take the example of a female auditioning for a role in a play that is being put up in a stage-front theatre in Chicago, which is a big theatre town. You’ll find yourself in a situation where male theatre actors are scarce and female theatre actresses are not. You are competing against a lot of other women, so what do you do? The same thing you would do if you were trying to get any other job: research what they are looking for and figure out why you’re a better fit for it than anybody else.

Start An Acting Career Based On Your Type

The first thing is to understand your physical type and reactive types. Your physical type is just what kind of woman you look like, what kinds of roles people will imagine you in right when they see your headshots, before they ever see you in person and understand what that head shot is like when it’s in motion. If you’re trying to work as a theatre actress, you have a little more flexibility, but if you’re working as a television actress your physical type has a very large chance of controlling your acting career. Choose your adventure wisely.

Start An Acting Career Based On Your Passion

Your reactive type is the types of roles you know how to play, the types of situations and characters that you naturally identify with and so are able to behave naturally in. As an artist you’ll no doubt want to consider yourself flexible and capable and that is good, you should be flexible, but you will also need to be aware that some things come more easily to you than others and that everyone has a different amount of artistic range. Even if you have a fantastic range, you will still be more prone to win roles that are close to your center. In fact, you will have an easier time getting those roles than an actress who is similarly oriented but who has less range, because you’ll be able to bring more of yourself into the role.

But enough of this nonsense, you came here to learn about a simple topic and it has become a complex one. Let’s regroup:

Resumes For Actresses

An actresses resume is exactly the same thing as an actors resume, but you need to understand what criteria you’re being evaluated on as a female actress. They are different than they would be if you were an actor, and so you have to study your field, observe the types of roles you see different types of actresses getting, and apply those understandings to your own career.

So you’ll do the same field work that an actor would do. You’ll check out example acting resumes and you’ll study up on acting headshots, but you’ll come to this thing from a different perspective. What roles are available in your area, what types of women get them, and what would have to change or stay the same in order for a woman like you to get them? That’s it, that’s all it is. You have to understand you market, and then think of yourself like a product. Then, when you have the right ideas, you’ll get to start thinking about resumes for actresses for what they really are: marketing propaganda designed to fit you the actress into the role that you want to fit yourself into. An actress’ resume is like the pair of shoes that she wears to the audition: they should be appropriate to the available roles, flattering for the actress, and comfortable for you to walk in as a person.

Acting Careers Need TLC

For that reason, I don’t think you should be afraid to craft your actress resume just a little bit differently for every audition. I’ll get into that in more detail in my article on resumes for actors. If you’re a model/actress, you’ll have to write up a modeling resume separately.