Acting CV example and writing guide

An acting CV needs a different structure from a conventional employment CV. Keep it to one clear A4 page and make sure the finished document remains readable both on screen and in print. Your core information is your name and contact details, headshot, credits and skills. Because a CV itself should not carry a photo, supply the headshot separately as part of the same casting submission or materials rather than embedding it in the document. Leave out your date of birth.

Build the page around casting information

Place credits in reverse-chronological order. If your work covers theatre and recorded performance, split it into plainly labelled groups. That makes more sense than forcing every production into a conventional job entry. Each credit should reveal the production and role at a glance. Experienced actors can lead with selected professional credits and remove early training productions when those entries stop helping. New actors can give more room to training, showcases, student productions and accurately labelled community work.

Write the acting personal statement after the rest of the page. Choose two or three facts that another section can prove, such as your main performance context, preparation record or response to direction. A statement is optional if it merely repeats the heading or pushes a useful credit off the page.

Keep skills precise. Creativity, charisma, interpersonal ability, quick line reading, vocal projection and taking direction are relevant acting skills. Physical and vocal technique, camera work, and experience across live and recorded performance may also belong when they are accurate. Avoid copying an acting CV template word for word. Casting teams need to know what you can do, not what another actor included.

For training, use exact course wording and consistent dates. Extras should answer a practical question: could this detail affect casting or explain a usable ability? Check every production title, character name and date, then inspect the PDF at normal size and print a test copy.

Treat most performance history as selected credits rather than lengthy employment entries. Give the production, role, company or venue, and director where relevant. Add a short evidence line only when it tells the reader something the credit cannot, such as the duration of a run, preparation time or ensemble scale. This keeps the acting CV compact while still showing the substance behind a credit.

A useful pattern is action + scope + observable result. Numbers might record performances completed, pages prepared, scheduled calls attended, turnaround time or ensemble size. Use only figures supported by your diary, contract, call sheets or other records.

These versions work because they identify the action and give credible scale. They do not invent a score for artistic quality. Leave out audience totals, reviews and commercial results unless you hold reliable evidence and can explain your own contribution honestly.

Choose verbs that name the craft: performed, portrayed, rehearsed, interpreted, researched, collaborated, devised, understudied, recorded and adapted. For theatre credits, relevant evidence can include taking direction from a director or choreographer, collaborating with performers, researching the play and character, learning lines, songs or dances, attending scheduled rehearsals, and performing for an audience. Costume fittings and using props or costume can be mentioned when they genuinely distinguish the engagement. Do not paste the same duty list below every production.

At entry level, draw evidence from training productions, showcases and clearly labelled community work. Keep the title and role prominent. For a senior acting CV, select substantial credits and reserve notes for sustained runs, repertory schedules, ensemble responsibility, demanding preparation or work across live and recorded performance.

If a number cannot be checked, write a specific qualitative line instead: "Rehearsed and performed two contrasting roles in alternating casts." That is stronger than an estimate dressed up as fact.

There is no set entry route to becoming an actor, so present the path you actually followed without implying that one course guarantees employment. Recent entrants may place training near the top when it supplies their best evidence. Experienced actors can move it below selected credits once their professional work says more.

For every education entry, give the establishment, study dates, subject title, qualification level and result. Copy official wording rather than shortening or upgrading it. One brief note about a substantial production, specialist area or assessed performance can help when it adds information missing from the credits section. Put informal coaching and short workshops in a separate training subsection; attendance by itself is not a certification.

Routes and application conditions

Drama school entry requires an audition. Depending on the school and applicant, A levels or a Level 3 Diploma in Performing Arts may also be needed. These qualifications are not always essential when an applicant can show enough talent and commitment, so describe them as conditions that may apply to a particular drama school route, not universal requirements for acting work.

For BA Acting applicants at Birmingham City University Conservatoire, a non-refundable £38 audition fee is payable to the Conservatoire through the UCAS system. Keep that condition tied to this course and institution rather than treating it as a standard fee across acting programmes.

The LAMDA Auditioning Monologue Bootcamp culminates in a mock audition for applicants to degree-level or drama school acting programmes. Participants are advised to have English at approximately IELTS 6.0 or equivalent English-language experience. This language guidance applies to that programme; it is not a general qualification for acting work.

Keep optional training selective. State the provider, exact course title and completion date, then remove minor or old entries when they no longer strengthen the page. A long catalogue of weekend sessions makes it harder to find sustained training. The useful question is what the course covered and whether that learning connects clearly to your credits or practical skills.