GETTING STARTED

Does My Child Need an Acting Resume to Get Started?

BY JENN BOYCE

FORMER HOLLYWOOD TALENT AGENT & FOUNDER OF THE HOLLYWOOD PREP

Yes—but please don’t panic if your child’s resume doesn’t have much on it yet.

They’re a beginner. We don’t expect it to!

Every working actor had a first resume that didn’t have a bunch of professional credits on it.

What I’m looking for in the beginning isn’t a long list of TV shows and movies. I’m looking for information that helps me understand who your child is, what they’ve done and what they might bring to the table.

What Should Be on a Beginner Child Actor Resume?

Start with the basics:

Your child’s name
Date of birth
Height
Weight

For kids, age, height and size can actually matter because of child labor laws. Remember what we talked about earlier? A child who is small for their age can sometimes have an advantage because production may be able to cast an older child to play younger.

Then we want to add whatever experience your child does have.

Sample child actor resume showing sections for experience, training and special skills

A Quick Safety Note for Parents

This is really important to me, so please don’t skip this part.

Do not put information on your child’s resume that makes it easy for someone to figure out exactly where to find them.

That means:

Don’t list your home address.
Don’t list the name of your child’s school.
Be careful about listing the exact name and location of their dance studio, gymnastics gym or other place they regularly attend.
Don’t include personal information that someone could use to track down your child.

For example, if your child takes ballet, you can absolutely list Ballet under Special Skills. We don’t necessarily need to know exactly where they’re taking ballet every Tuesday afternoon.

I’m very cautious about this because unfortunately, there are some crazy people out there, and we don’t need to make it any easier for someone to find your child.

Your child’s acting resume is a professional marketing tool.

It doesn’t need to be a roadmap to their personal life.

When it comes to protecting your child’s privacy, I’d always rather you give a little less information than too much.

Can School and Church Plays Go on a Child Actor Resume?

Absolutely!

If your child has done theater, put it on there.

And when I say theater, I don’t just mean some huge professional production.

School plays count.

Church plays count.

Community theater counts.

If your child has had an opportunity to get onstage and perform, I want to know about it.

Remember, we’re building a beginner resume. We’re not pretending your child has professional experience they don’t have.

We’re showing what they have done.

What Acting Training Should I Put on My Child’s Resume?

Include any legitimate acting training they’ve had.

Maybe they’ve taken an ongoing acting class.

Maybe they did a summer acting program.

Maybe they participated in an acting program through school or church.

Put it down.

Again, I’m looking for clues that tell me a little more about your child and what experience they’ve already had.

What Special Skills Should Be on a Child Actor’s Resume?

Now we get to a section Agents REALLY look at:

Special Skills.

Especially when your child is new and doesn’t have many credits yet, this section can be incredibly helpful.

Remember, thousands of actors can be submitted for a single role. We’re always looking for ways to help your child stand out.

Maybe Casting needs a kid who’s a really good soccer player.

And your child plays competitive soccer.

Great!

Maybe they need a gymnast.

Your child has been doing gymnastics for six years.

Fantastic.

Maybe they’re looking for a kid who’s a serious gamer.

Yep—that can matter too!

And I even like including interesting things your child does outside of performing. Maybe they volunteer at an animal shelter or spend time helping at a nursing home.

Those things tell me something about who your child is.

They can also become talking points for your Agent when they’re pitching your child or for your child during a meeting.

Sometimes that one little detail gives us another reason to say:

“Hey, take a look at this kid.”

What Is NOT a Special Skill?

This is where parents sometimes get a little creative. 😂

Good personality is not a special skill.

Confidence is not a special skill.

Good memorization is generally not a special skill.

Those are qualities we expect an actor to have.

The one exception I would make is for a very young child. If your little one is an unusually strong reader or has an exceptional ability to memorize material for their age, that can be worth mentioning.

But as kids get older, those things become expectations—not Special Skills.

Your Child’s Resume Doesn’t Need to Look “Full”

Please don’t feel like you need to fill every inch of the page.

And definitely don’t add things just to make the resume look more impressive.

I’d much rather see a short, honest resume that tells me something interesting about your child than a page filled with fluff.

Remember what we’re trying to do:

Help your child stand out from the thousands of other kids being submitted.

Sometimes it’s a professional credit.

Sometimes it’s great training.

And sometimes it’s the fact that your kid can do a standing backflip, plays goalie on a competitive soccer team or volunteers every Saturday at an animal shelter.

Give your Agent something they can use.

That’s the purpose of the resume.