List special skills you could perform on camera tomorrow with no preparation: accents, languages, sports, combat and weapons training, dance, singing, instruments and useful licences. Put them in a short section at the bottom of your resume, give a level where it matters, and leave out anything you would need weeks to learn. Our experts were unanimous on one point: a skill you can't deliver in the room does more harm than leaving it off.
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Anything a production might need a character to do on screen that you can already do well. Kym Jackson's test is that it should be visual and usable: accents, sports, weapons and fighting skills, playing an instrument. A good creative writer is great, but it is not a special skill for this section.
The value is simple. When a role needs a horse rider, a fluent Spanish speaker or someone who can twirl fire, far fewer actors qualify, so the competition for that audition shrinks before you even walk in.
Teen acting expert Karen Workman told us almost anything can make an actor more hireable. One of her daughters did archery, and a job that needed a teenager who could shoot a bow got her into the union.
Qualify anything where level matters. "Spanish (fluent)" and "French (conversational)" tell a casting director exactly what they can rely on. For sports and dance, "advanced", "intermediate" or a credential such as a belt rank does the same job. If you would only be passable after a week of lessons, leave it off.
Kym's warning: many people list skills they have tried once or twice because they think they could learn them quickly. Amy Walker, founder of 21 Accents, has 21 accents on her resume and said she lists only what she can demonstrate in the room, in the moment, with zero preparation.
Yes, if they are solid now, not just when you last practised. Kym said accents are a huge commodity because they widen the characters you can play, and a casting director with a spare minute may say "give us that in Irish". You want to deliver on the spot.
Amy Walker said an actor who can put on an accent perfectly can be more useful than one who naturally has it, because they can adjust it: soften it for clarity, or shift it if the writers change direction.
Yes. Kym said that for roles requiring French, German, Spanish or Arabic, far fewer actors can compete, and agents value a client they can send out for those auditions.
The distinction that matters is fluency. Amy Walker said to make sure your reps know your real level, so they don't put you up for a role played entirely in a language you only took a couple of classes in at school.
Show it. Kym recommends footage of you doing the skill: 10 to 15 seconds in your main reel, or a separate reel of about a minute just for that skill. It doesn't have to be professional. Rehearsal footage, a play or a phone video of your fight or dance training is enough to show you can do it.
That matters because when a role needs real singing, dance or fight work, the production wants someone it won't have to train from scratch, and who can work with the choreographer from day one.
No. Kym's line on resumes is "amplify, do not fabricate". Present what you have done in its best light, but don't invent it. If you are caught out just as someone is about to hire you, they learn you lack integrity, and nobody wants to work with a liar.
Commercial casting expert Shaan Sharma put it just as plainly when asked whether to fib in a casting: you should never lie. Another of our commercial casting answers makes the same point about food allergies: never hide one to get a job. Your safety comes first, so tell your agent in advance.
They do, especially in commercials. Shaan Sharma said commercial casting looks at the training and special skills section "pretty heavily", for improv and on-camera training and for specific things like skateboarding, piano or juggling that a spot might need.
Kym said casting people sometimes ask actors to do a quirky listed skill just for fun. Casting workshop expert Ajarae Coleman's advice for workshops: if a skill fits your scene, use it, but don't bring the guitar or start tumbling. Otherwise, leave it on the resume.
At the bottom, after training. In Kym's format the order is credits, training, then special skills, with your social handle last. Keep the same 12 point font as the rest of the page, and group skills on one or two lines by type, for example:
Accents: Southern US, London, Irish. Languages: Spanish (fluent). Sports: horse riding, surfing. Combat: boxing, stage combat. Music: guitar, alto.
If you have many accents, you can give them their own line or section. Cut anything that isn't visual, useful or recognisable; it takes space from a stronger line. For the rest of the page, see our acting resume format guide.
Skills a character might need on screen that you can already do well: accents, languages, sports, martial arts or stage combat, dance, singing, instruments and current licences.
At the bottom, after training, grouped on one or two lines by type.
No. Our experts said to list only accents you can do on the spot with no preparation, because a casting director may ask for one in the room.
It is not worth the risk. If you are caught out you lose trust, and productions want someone they won't have to train from scratch.
Yes, especially in commercials, where special skills and training are read closely for things the spot might need.
Special skills are one line of a page that has to earn you the audition. Our free resume guide helps you get the rest of it right.
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