AN ACTOR'S RESUME - How to List Film Roles

Whether you are a beginning actor or experienced,  you will need a resume and may need reminders as to how to list things.  

Depending on how many credits you have, you may have a separate category for film and a separate category for television, or you may choose to combine them.  Within the film and TV categories you may or may not list the character name, but most casting directors and creatives (if they look at your resume) will want to see the "type" of role you played.  The types are a little different for film and TV. Within film, you will want to list your credits as lead, supporting, or principal.  

As a lead you are one of the main characters of the film that the story is centered around you.

List as supporting character if you are a secondary, large and important character in the film but not the lead - i.e. a  best-friend, co-worker, spouse  role. 

Finally, you would call yourself a principal if your speaking role is not central to the storyline but you often interact with one of the lead characters.

If you are a background actor/extra,  it is typically recommended not to list it on your resume, because it is a non-speaking role (fan in stadium, patron at restaurant etc).   Sometimes, you may see the term "featured"; it means you are a background actor with more screen time. There are times when actors include their extra work to show they have had some on set experience - just be honest that you were an extra.  

Next week, we will talk about how to list TV roles.