As you might guess from the name, the headshot is simply that. A photograph of a person's head, which is normally taken by a professional photographer, used to promote the actor, is termed a headshot.

Typically an actor's headshot will be about 8x10, with measurements for your wardrobe and your resume printed or clipped to the back side of it.

Normally you will want to take the headshot with little or no makeup and in black and white, however in recent years the headshot has been expanded to become a 3/4 shot, that is a photo of the actor from the waist up, and have also become colored as opposed to black and white.

You can expect to pay somewhere between 500 and 1000 dollars to have a good professional headshot taken and printed for your use.

The headshot is required of you when looking for work in the acting field, however if you are at this point only beginning, or want to seek work as an extra in order to break into the field, then spending the money for a head shot might not be necessary at this point.

If a director or casting personnel requests a photo, you can, at this point give them a 3 by 5 color photo and skip the headshot however if you want to make acting your craft and field, and you intend to seriously pursue the art, then you will need a professionally done headshot and it might as well be now.

The headshot photo is one of the most important tools that you're going to find to help you get that first break into a job, and to help to break into the field of acting.

Even the most established actor or actress will send their headshot along with their updated resume to the casting directors in a given area. It's the most traditional way for the casting director to be able to view the actor in their natural look, and to check their vital stats in black and white format and to decide from that if they are right for any particular part.

The most imperative aspect of your headshot will be that it gives the true image of you, in a natural way, minus the stage or day to day makeup, without any real adornment, so that the casting director can see what's under the makeup, and will be able to determine from that if you suit a given part.

Most if not all casting directors pay close attention to the headshot and will use it as a sort of, first audition by you to see if it projects style, intellect, and personality.

Make sure that your headshot reflects who you are and is clean and simple. You will want to use a plain background as well so that the focus in the headshot, is you.