Acting Resume With No Experience (What to Put On It)

With no experience, your acting resume leads with what you do have: student and short films, theatre (school and community count), content you've made, training and real special skills, all labelled honestly on one page. Casting directors do see newcomers: of the 20 we asked whether they audition non-union actors, 14 said yes.

Can you make an acting resume with no experience?

Yes, and everyone has. Kym Jackson's advice to new actors is not to worry if you have no credits, because there's plenty you can put on the page. Actor and consultant Kevin E. West puts it more simply: we all started with nothing on our resume, and plenty of people started late in life and still succeeded.

The job of a thin resume is not to look busy. It's to show you're trained, honest and worth a first audition.

Will casting directors see an actor with no credits?

Many will. Most actors with an empty resume are also non-union, so we asked 20 casting directors whether they audition non-union actors. Fourteen said yes, from Rachel Sutton ("all the time") to Ricki Maslar, who said you never know where you'll find the next big name. Two said it depends on the role, and four said rarely, mostly because studio and union rules make hiring a non-union actor harder.

The openings are specific. Bonnie Zane said children, teenagers, first-time hires and specialty roles are where non-union actors get in. John Frank Levey estimated about a quarter of the actors he sees are new talent, and Faith Martin told us she'll open the field to teenagers whose only training is school drama or Saturday classes.

What can you put on an acting resume with no experience?

More than you think. Anything real counts if you label it honestly:

• Student and short films. Kym's film section mixes features and shorts under one heading, "Film", without labelling which were shorts.
• Theatre, including school and community productions. List the character name, because a reader who knows the play can picture you in the role.
• Web series and content you made. Actor and filmmaker Melissa Center adds a new media section for her own series, and marks festival screenings or awards with an asterisk.
• Training, which carries the most weight when credits are light (see below).
• Special skills you can perform on the spot. Our special skills guide has the full list.

The layout rules are the same as for any actor; see our acting resume format guide.

How do you label small roles honestly?

Use the industry's words, not your own. Kym's rules: a film role is lead or supporting (one line still makes you supporting), and TV credits follow your contract: co-star, guest star, recurring or series regular.

One trap catches beginners all the time. "Featured" does not mean a speaking part. Kym explains that casting directors and agents read it as featured extra or featured background, so if you spoke, you were supporting or a co-star. If you were background, don't dress it up as anything else.

How do you make your training section do the work?

When credits are thin, training is your strongest section. Kym's layout uses three columns: the school, the class type (Meisner, comedy, on-camera) and the teacher. Naming the technique tells casting what skills you've picked up.

Commercial casting reads this section closely. Our commercial casting expert told us they look at training and special skills "pretty heavily", for improv and on-camera training in particular. Keep a running record of every class and teacher so the section stays accurate as it grows. If you're not in class yet, start: our acting classes by city directory is a good first stop.

Is it OK to pad your resume or fake credits?

No. Kym's rule is "amplify, do not fabricate". Presenting real work in its best light is fine; inventing credits is bad business. With small indie films nobody may check, she says, but the risk is being caught out just as someone is about to hire you, and nobody wants to work with a liar.

The same goes for union status. Former SAG-AFTRA Vice President Ben Whitehair says that if you're eligible but haven't joined, write "SAG-AFTRA Eligible", not "SAG-AFTRA". If you're non-union, say so; Kym's tutorial asks for union status stated honestly and clearly under your name. More on that in what SAG-E means.

What does a beginner acting resume look like?

Here's the shape, with placeholders for you to swap in. Put whichever section is strongest first.

Kym keeps body text at 12 point and in black, and sends it as a PDF. If you have even one festival screening or award, mark it.

How do you get your first credits?

Make them and find them. Casting director Kahleen Crawford's advice for new actors: create your own material with people you trained with, offer your services to filmmakers who need actors, and be ready to shoot a good self tape the moment one is asked for, readers and file names included. She also says to stay connected with classmates, because you'll each hear about different opportunities.

Our guides to making a short film and auditioning for AFI student films are two practical starting points.

What if your resume is behind other actors your age?

Don't apologise for it. Kevin E. West's view is that your craft and talent can match your age even when your credits don't, and a thin resume often reflects your life, not your ability. Go after jobs that fit where your resume is now, and it will catch up. Our page on starting acting later goes further.

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