Headshots are one of the most critical tools for actors at every stage of their careers. A strong headshot can open doors, land auditions, and help actors stand out in a competitive industry. Whether you’re auditioning for a commercial, community theater, a film or TV series, a college program, or need press-ready images for promotional features, having the right headshots is essential.
Not all headshots serve the same purpose. Different types of headshots cater to different industry needs, from traditional professional portraits to audition-specific images that showcase an actor’s versatility. Knowing what kind of headshots you need—and when to update them—can make a significant difference in booking opportunities and maintaining a quick response to opportunities within the fast-paced talent industry.
Audition Headshots: Show Your Best Characters!
Audition headshots are designed to help actors book roles. They should be well lit, bold, and stand out in a sea of headshot thumbnails.These headshots highlight expression, energy, and character potential, showing casting directors how an actor might fit into a particular part, prompting them to call your agency to send you to auditions.
This category of acting headshots features actors as natural as possible, using expression, clothing, hairstyle, and sometimes a simple prop or accessory to suggest each type of character they are capable of playing or want to play. When makeup is applied, it should be done to look like the actor is wearing no makeup at all, unless it applies to a specific character role. Skin tones and permanent features should remain accurate.
Example characters below: smart, bubbly, quirky teen student; spooky, emo, or serious teenager; love interest, hopeless romantic, sweet, demure, or popular girl.
Traditional + PR Actor Headshots: Your Best Self Image!
Traditional actor headshots are polished, professional portraits used for generic submissions. These images are often seen in playbills, on community theater walls, social media, IMDB profiles, press releases, and industry publications and interviews.
This kind of headshot typically features a neutral, natural look that represents the actor’s best appearance without focusing on a specific character type. Promotional headshots can also be more dynamic and have more makeup, if desired, though most actors choose to have natural hair and makeup done for this kind of look.
College audition headshots (first & middle images below) also fall into this category, often requiring a natural, unfiltered look that aligns with program guidelines.
Variety in a Headshot Session
A well-rounded headshot session should include multiple looks to cover different casting needs for several months, and give your reps a good amount of images and expressions to choose from when looking for parts for you. This can mean capturing a mix of expressions and variations of each character type, as well as several styles that reflect an actor’s versatility.
You should connect with your talent agency representative before you book your headshot session so that you know what kind of roles are currently trending and on demand in the industry and what's expected to trend in the near future. This also gives you an idea of how much time you need to book with your photographer and makeup artist and helps you fill out your portfolio within one session.
Reps generally expect to receive a gallery of at least 150+ images from your photographer. Your photographer will typically send a link directly to your representative to choose and download the photos that they want to add to your portfolio. Retouching is typically not expected.
Commercial Acting Headshots & Pilot Season
For actors pursuing commercial work, having a headshot that conveys warmth and approachability is crucial. Commercial casting directors look for actors who appear friendly, relatable, and engaging—qualities that are best captured through a bright, natural-looking headshot. (The images above show that she can play comedic relief, cheery, and grumpy.)
Pilot season, which has traditionally run from late January through April, is one of the busiest times of the year for actors looking to land television roles. Now that streaming services introduce new shows all year long, pilot season is all the time!
Images below were for a young OC actor who needed to update her IMDB in advance of the release of an award winning film she and her classmates wrote and acted in. She and mom requested a cinematic red-carpet vibe, PR-styled shoot and wanted promotional images to match her current age.
When to Update Headshots
Keeping headshots up to date is essential for maintaining a strong industry presence and to add new looks and characters to ensure reps have a variety current images to submit when an audition is requested.
For kids and teens, headshots should be updated every six months as younger actors grow and change quickly. For adult actors, updates are typically needed every one to two years, whenever there’s a major change in appearance or when your agent requests new headshots.
For all ages, if a headshot no longer accurately represents how an actor currently looks, casting directors may lose interest or feel misled when they see a different appearance in person. This could include a significant change of hairstyle length or color, weight fluctuations, or aging into a new character type. Occasionally, a headshot mini session is needed to update and expand your portfolio quickly for key opportunities.
Investing in Strong Headshots
A professional headshot is an investment in an actor’s career. Having a strong, versatile set of headshots can make the difference between landing an audition and booking that role, or being overlooked. Whether it’s for auditions, college applications, PR, or commercial opportunities, keeping headshots fresh and aligned with industry expectations ensures that actors remain competitive in a constantly evolving field.
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