Tag: acting

Special Skills on an Actor’s Resume

This Week’s Tip: Special Skills / No-No Skills

“No-No Skills” are items on an actors resume that should never – repeat NEVER be listed as skills on an actor’s resume.

The Special Skills section of an actor’s resume is not a landfill for useless information. This section should only contain actual special skills that can be performed on stage or screen. But many actors feel that they should have their Special Skills section of a resume challenge the verbosity of WAR & PEACE with “skills” that have no relevance to performing. Don’t even get me started on the useless “driver’s license” and” U.S. Passport” offenders. If a director needs a principal actor in a car, the actor is placed in a car that is put on a trailer or in front of a green screen. If you feel that you won’t be hired as an actor for a project without listing your driving skills or passport status then here’s what you do. Remove ALL acting credits on your resume because you’re not needed as an actor. Have just your name, contact information and put dead center on the resume that you can drive and/or have a passport. Your talent is not wanted, just your car or passport.

This past week as I was going through a multitude of resumes that came to my office from un-represented actors I began to notice that some actors were listing special skills which had absolutely no qualified reason or logic to be on an actor’s resume. Below is just some of the recent bounty of No-No skills found. If you have any “skill” similar on your resume delete it immediately (including any references to passports and driving).

– “Walking” (Ok, the actor looks a bit mature in his pic so maybe, for him, walking is beyond ordinary)

– “Dog Owner”

– “Promiscuous Female” (THIS was on a actor’s resume… either he doesn’t know his sex OR he has a lot of sex and his partners ignore the mid-waist protrusion)

– “Piano Clowning” (THE PIANO meets Stephen King’s IT)

– “I own a Russian warmblood” (I dated a Russian who was warmblooded but he didn’t shed)

– “Zone II Hunter Finals” (huh?)

– “Related to Jimmy Stewart” (And your point is?…)

– “President of a Corporation” (So is Donald Trump but I wouldn’t want to watch his Lear)

– “Tetris” (Is this actress hoping for the remake of TRON?)

– “Amazing with Children” (On a mature male’s résumé… someone call Chris Hanson of DATELINE)

– “Excellent Impression of Parents”

– “Baby-sitting” (I got a resume from an older man who’s “amazing with children”… you two need to get together)

– “Role player for psychological testing of Boston-area police department applicants”

– “Hard Living” (Yo, sweetheart… we’re all suffering these days)

– “Furniture refinishing and tiny tot gymnastics (Imagine if she got the two confused. There would be a lot of damaged dinettes and shellacked kiddies)

– “Enjoys restoring cars in the family collection”

– “Owner of [name withheld] Jewelry”

– “Make incredible smothered burritos” (My local Taco Hell needs you)

BookMoreWork_TelseyQuoteWhenever I, other casting personnel and talent reps encounter these No-No Skills and similar on resumes the resume is often quickly tossed. Why? Our impression of the actor is that they are one or all of the following; needy, insecure, over-compensating, clueless, a freak. Acting is a business folks. A profession. That’s why I wrote my book, ACTING: Make It Your Business, to help people from making these kinds of mistakes and treat the business of acting as a profession.

What should be in the Special Skills section of a resume? See pages 78 – 80 in ACTING: Make It Your Business – How to Avoid Mistakes and Achieve Success as a Working Actor. This is NOT a plug. It’s a plea to actors to stop hindering themselves by knowingly or unknowing making mistakes that jeopardize forward momentum in their careers.

AMIYB_AmazonMy best,
Paul

Paul Russell’s career as a casting director, director, acting teacher and former actor has spanned more than thirty years. He has worked on projects for major film studios, television networks, and Broadway. Paul has taught the business of acting and audition technique at NYU and has spoken at universities including Elon, Yale, Temple and the University of the Arts. He is the author of ACTING: Make It Your Business – How to Avoid Mistakes and Achieve Success as a Working Actor. For more information, please visit www.PaulRussell.net.

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Actors – How Not to Fail an Audition

Paul Russell
Visit Paul @ PaulRussell.net

We all make mistakes.

I’ve made plenty (even here openly on this intermesh thing).

After three decades of working with, and for actors, I’m still surprised by the career destroying fuck-ups that some actors will willingly and without-thought-to-consequences do with what little gray matter may pulse within in their cranium.

This week as I was sitting at a talent agency I witnessed a first-rate screw-up by an actor that jeopardized his relationship with a Broadway casting office, director, producer and agent all in one simultaneous, mind-blowing shoot-themselves-in-the-career crash. It also made me never want to work with the actor as well.

For this exercise we’ll tag him as Actor-Withholding-On-Logic; a.k.a. A.W.O.L.

A.W.O.L. dumped his agent, via a weekend e-mail missive, for he felt that his life was quote “boring” and he needed a change (no, that’s not the main mistake for my mussing here, although being bored and leaving your agent because the Prozac dosage is no longer controlling the mood swings could be considered a career careening crash).

As I was chatting in the talent agent’s office a call came from another casting director’s office (one that I once worked at). The casting director, along with a well-known director, choreographer and several producers were sitting curious at a casting session for an upcoming Broadway production. They were left waiting for an actor who had not shown up to his scheduled appointment for a leading role within the production. The M.I.A. actor? A.W.O.L.

A.W.O.L.’s former agent got off the phone with the now irritated casting director and called A.W.O.L. to ask why he had not shown up to the appointment he confirmed to attend. He had gotten the audition appointment via his agent well before trashing said talent rep. A.W.O.L. informed his former champion that he felt he no longer had to attend the audition because he had just left the agency. Excuse me?!?

So here was an unemployed actor who had just dumped his agent while also dumping upon a casting office and a production team for Broadway. Can someone explain to me, especially in this economic climate why such arrogance (and obvious ignorance) exists? Wait, I may have answered my question; arrogance and ignorance are close cousins.

BookMoreWork_TelseyQuoteWhat’s the moral here? No matter what your relationship with your representation, an actor is to keep their commitment to confirmed audition appointments. And not only audition appointments but also commitments to commissions on projects that your representation helped get you seen for and negotiated the contract(s). One of the few pardonable excuses on making a pass on a confirmed audition is passing, literally, as in six feet under or oven-ash time. Even then you’ll need a doctor’s written note.

Be considerate of others. Don’t become known as problematic. The number of people working in this industry is very small. We talk. We share stories. Don’t become a story that you would not want to be a part of.

My best,
Paul

AMIYB_AmazonRead advice from legendary talent agents,
plus Hollywood & Broadway actors in Paul Russell’s Best-Selling Book ACTING: Make It Your Business!

Paul Russell’s career as a casting director, director, acting teacher and former actor has spanned nearly thirty years. He has worked on projects for major film studios, television networks, and Broadway. Paul has taught the business of acting and audition technique at NYU and has spoken at universities including Yale, Temple and the University of the Arts. He writes a column for Back Stage and is the author of ACTING: Make It Your Business – How to Avoid Mistakes and Achieve Success as a Working Actor. For more information, please visit www.PaulRussell.net.

 

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