No, Do Not List Callbacks on Your Résumé
by Chris Peterson
On a recent episode of What’s the Rate?, actor Jonathan Cruz suggested that actors should list callbacks on their résumés. And look, no hate to Jonathan. I get the impulse. This business is brutal, rejection is constant, and sometimes a callback feels like the only proof you’re not just wandering NYC in character shoes, slowly losing your mind.
But after thinking about it, I keep landing in the same place: absolutely not. Actors should not be listing callbacks on their résumés.
I don’t know how many actors are actually doing this but the reason is pretty simple. You would not put jobs you made it to the final interview for on your résumé. You would not hand a future employer a document that says, “Marketing Coordinator, almost got it.” That would be unhinged behavior. So why are we pretending it suddenly becomes smart when actors do the exact same thing?
A callback is not a credit. It is not a role, a contract, or a production you worked on. It is an encouraging “almost”.
Don’t get me wrong, a callback can mean they liked your audition. It can mean you were seriously in the mix. It can mean people are starting to notice. That is all real. That is all valuable.
It is also still not a credit.
A résumé is supposed to show what you have done, not what you came close to doing. Once you start listing callbacks, the résumé stops being a résumé and starts becoming a scrapbook of near-success.
Harsh? Maybe. Wrong? I don’t think so.
Because what is anyone supposed to do with that information? “Oh wow, they didn’t book it, but they almost did.”
No one is saying that. No one is looking at “Final Callback” and suddenly treating it like a professional achievement on par with actual work.
If anything, it can make a résumé look weaker. Instead of letting your real credits speak for themselves, you are filling space with jobs you did not get. That does not make the document look fuller. It makes it look hungrier.
It also opens the door to total résumé nonsense. Which callbacks count? Broadway only? Regional theatre? Workshops? Student films? Readings? Self-tapes that turned into producer sessions? A strong vibe from behind the table? At what point does the résumé become an emotional support document?
Final Callback for Wicked
Pinned for national tour
Strongly considered for Guy Who Carries Chair
Be serious.
There are lots of meaningful things in an actor’s life that do not belong on a résumé: taking a great class, being remembered by a casting office, getting deep into the process for something big and not booking it because you were too tall, too short, too young, too old, or because the producer’s cousin suddenly became available. All of that can matter. None of it belongs under “credits.”
So again, no hate to Jonathan. I understand the thinking. I just think it confuses progress with proof.
Progress is great. Keep it in your heart. Tell your friends. Mention it to your coach. But the résumé is for the stuff you actually booked. Because “almost” is not a credit.