You want to be an actor. You see a job you like.

But you don’t have any experience to put in your CV (or résumé).

It’s the old story. You can’t get work without experience. And you can’t get experience without work.

But… directors know that actors have to start somewhere and if you look right, and the role is fairly straightforward, they might be willing to take a chance if you show the right passion for, and a professional attitude towards, acting.

We’ve all started out with no experience and no training, and no one thinks badly of this, so here are a few ideas you should think about if your CV is blank right now, and you’re looking for work.

Get Some Experience #

Are you sure you have no experience? Maybe you were in a school play, or walked on as an extra when your friend made a short film. If you’ve been there when a director told you what to do, then you have experience, no matter how small it was.

That means on your acting CV you can put down

2024 — Killer Tomatoes (short) —  directed by Ben Braun — Germany

But if you have really never acted before, now is the time to get some experience even if you make it yourself: make a short movie on your phone with your friends and then that’s experience, and it goes on your CV.

2019 — A Quick Tale (short) — directed by Fred Smith — UK

And if you can, upload it to YouTube so it’s there for the world to see and if anyone asks, you can link to it.

It may not be as good as the latest James Bond film, but it’s a start!

Any Experience Welcome #

But if you have no experience at all as an actor, can you put down something which might relate to the role? For example, if the role is a student, then put down that you’ve just finished college, etc. If the role is a business person, tell them you worked in a bank for 15 years and so on.

It’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing.

This goes for special skills as well. Tell them you have a car licence, that you speak Urdu, that you can ride a horse, that you can scuba dive…

But never lie on your CV. Whatever you put down, make sure you can back it up if required!

And Training? #

If you've done any acting training at all — even if it was just a weekend course — then that goes onto your CV!

And if you haven't done any acting training yet… well, it's time to do some because not only will you learn something useful, but you'll also have something for your CV.

Acting for the Camera, run by Giulia Rossi, Rome, 2025

Finally #

Make sure to immerse yourself in film making and acting, beginning right now. Read, study, watch… so that when you do arrive on set, you'll know exactly what's going on. Or at least you will look like you know what's going on, even if it's your first time!