Follow these guidelines when creating your acting résumé. List the project name, the type of role, and the director or production company. Never include extra work. If you do not have room to list all your film, TV and theatre credits, it’s fine to note “partial list” in parentheses after the heading. Bring the full list with you to an audition and be prepared to show it to the CD if asked. Scroll down to the bottom to view Sally Sample’s résumé. Thanks to Double 19 Productions and Talent Management for defining film, TV and theatre billing.

1. HEADING: Center your name at the top of your résumé. Include union affiliations under your name. List your height, weight, hair and eye colors on the left. List your agency’s name, agency phone number, agency email and website on the right. Do not include your personal contact information.

2. FILM BILLING: A “Lead” is a principal role in the film. In most scenes, on-screen credit is often in the credits that start the film, as well as in the complete end credits. A “Supporting” is a principal role in the film in one or more scenes, but not a lead character, although important to the storyline. A “Featured” is a principal role in the film with one or more lines, but easily cut from the final version of the film. Unfortunately, many extras use the term “featured” to describe their extra work and that means Casting Directors are less convinced that a job listed as “featured” actually was a featured principal role. An “Extra” is a non-speaking role in the film with no on-screen credit. Extra work should not be listed on your résumé.

3. TELEVISION BILLING: A “Series Regular” is a contract role with exclusivity to the series, network, and production company for a term of a year or more; paid for a predetermined number of episodes produced, on contract for all episodes, even those in which the character doesn’t appear. A “Recurring” character returns over multiple episodes, either on standing contract or contracted periodically, based on negotiations and number of appearances. A “Guest Star” is a one-episode guest whose character’s storyline is central to that episode, works at a weekly rate and is typically under contract for the week, even if only shooting a day or two. A “Co-star” is a one-episode guest whose character’s storyline may or may not be central to that episode and has anywhere from one line to multiple scenes. A “Contract Role” is a soap opera term for a daytime series regular or recurring character. An “Under 5” is a term for a character who has between one and five lines. An “Extra” is a non-speaking role with no on-screen credit. Extra work should not be listed on your résumé.

4. THEATRE BILLING: Billing is pretty much non-existent for theatre credits on a résumé. Most theatre credits include the character name, as role size is generally known. If, however, the production is of an original work or relatively new play, it is fine to include a parenthetical notation of “Lead” or “Supporting” after the character name.

5. COMMERCIAL OR INDUSTRIAL VIDEO BILLING: A “Principal” can be speaking or non-speaking. If you have a separate commercial résumé, you are not required to list all your commercial credits. Make the parenthetical notation “full list available on request” and be prepared to show it to the CD if asked.

6. TRAINING: List the name of school or studio, type of class, and the instructor’s name and city.

7. SKILLS: List things you can actually do and be prepared to demonstrate your skill to a CD during an audition or callback. Include athletic, performance and language skills.