1. I re-entered the industry as an adult, but I have preofessional training and experience from when I was a teenager. I want to include it because it shows that I have stage experience, but I don't want it to look like I just got out of school.

The issue is that I look (and have been cast) as a bit younger than I am, and the teen credits are from quite a while ago. Is it advisable to ever include the year of the job? [B]Do I separate my teen and adult experience/training? [/B]

2. The other issue is that I recently have been cast as both a "college student" and a "teacher" in the past month (two different jobs). Would this confuse you if you saw a resume that had both these credits listed,one on top of the other?

If anyone has an example of a resume that lists both teen and adult credits, I would love to see it.

Thanks in advance!

When a casting director or agent requests a resume, you should automatically assume that it means, A CURRENT RESUME.

Sending an old, outdated one is about as useful as tits on a bull. A total waste of time.

The only thing that this would accomplish is to prove is that you haven't worked at all in all those years. Do you actually want to present this impression of yourself? This is the absolute WORSE thing you can do. Ditto to listing the years in which you worked. This unnecessarily dates you, with the same negative consequences. They are looking to book working actors, not The Over The Hill Gang.

Simply listing your Character Name, without any inference to age, would be a far more productive path to take.

www.robertkim.com

quote:

Originally posted by glamourpuss:
I recently have been cast as both a "college student" and a "teacher" in the past month (two different jobs). Would this confuse you if you saw a resume that had both these credits listed,one on top of the other?

I think it's fine, personally, as long as you have great, up-to-date headshots that look like you and accurately reflect the age range that you can realistically play.

I'm assuming you have the kind of look where you can realistically play either a college student or a fresh-faced young teacher.

quote:

Originally posted by Justine:
I'm assuming you have the kind of look where you can realistically play either a college student or a fresh-faced young teacher.

The casting of student and teacher are usually two totally different categories and age ranges (I don't think Miley Cyrus will be cast as the science teacher any time soon). Although she was apparently cast in both roles, I consider this an anomaly, not typical casting for her.

In any case, she can easily avoid any confusion by simply listing herself as "Mary Reynolds" instead of, "Student," for example, listing both credits without dating herself and confusing the casting director.

www.robertkim.com

I think the strength and recognizability of your credits is the bigger issue. If you can put something on there from back when, and a CD or agent might actually look at it for more than a nanosecond, that puts you ahead of the game.

Actors get cast against type. They can make you up to age you or play you younger. You can't make any judgement without having seen the production. No one is going to over think this, and you shouldn't either. If they are interested enough to have a question, maybe they'll call you in and ask it.

For the love of heaven... please don't date your resume. Just stick to the three column format.

You dont need to list all your credits, just the ones that make you look good. Check out this article.

http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/2008_10_06.html

quote:

Originally posted by Lonni Delane:
I think the strength and recognizability of your credits is the bigger issue. If you can put something on their from back when, and a CD or agent might actually look at it for more than a nanosecond, that puts you ahead of the game.

Actors get cast against type. They can make you up to age you or play you younger. You can't make any judgement without having seen the production. No one is going to over think this, and you shouldn't either. If they are interested enough to have a question, maybe they'll call you in and ask it.

Valid points, LD.

But in this case, none of her credits rank in this category.

Considering "casting against type," this usually refers to CHARACTER description, not AGE description (like submitting a chubby, unattractive actor to portray a handsome leading man, etc.). The most illustrative example of this would be casting a young Patrick Harris in the part of "Doogie Howser, M.D." But this is an extremely rare example where his youthful age was central to the plot.

Once again, why confuse the CD by creating unnecessary confusion as to type, when it can be so easily and accurately described?

Ok, let me try to explain myself better.

I have current credits, and am currently working.

I was asking how to list credits from 10+ years ago when it would be obvious by some of the roles that it was when I was a teenager. And yes there was a break between that time and my return to acting. I feel that somehow I need to account for the fact that they were like two lifetimes, if that makes sense.

Also, in two different jobs, I recently played a college student and then a "young teacher". Neither of the characters had names, but were not "extra" or "background".

For the record, my look allows me to play a young 20-something up to my late 20s. Wardrobe and makeup changes help achieve this.

Hi, glamourpuss. This is a great question. The good news is that you are not alone: everyone in their 20s who acted in their teens has had to deal with this, so there are options for you!

Most importantly, I think that the credits on your resume should reflect roles that you can realistically play NOW. Your resume is your marketing tool - it allows industry folks to understand your body of work and how it relates to the work you can do NOW. So, you should look at the credits from your teen years and remove anything that you could not currently be cast as. For example, if you can no longer play a high school student, remove any evidence of those roles from your resume. This also applies to roles that you are currently too YOUNG to play. I had a huge & meaty role as a grandmother in a college production- unfortunately, it does not belong on my resume because I won't play that role for 30+ years.

If you choose to keep teen credits on your resume...

As they mentioned above, stage credits should be listed by character name, which will help you avoid the "teacher" vs. "student" issue. Also, you do not need to put dates on your resume- dates would be irrelevant if your resume reflects what you can play today.

Now, there are always exceptions: If you were a child star, it would probably be valuable to have some of those credits on your resume. In this case I would create a separate section for your professional work as a child/teen.

As for training, you can keep everything under one heading- there is no need to separate by age in this section.

I hope this has answered your questions- if you have any others I'll be very happy to help where I can!

Erin,

Your advice was quite helpful. I will check out your links and perhaps we dialog at some point in the future.

Many thanks!

You're welcome- it's my pleasure!