What makes a good acting headshot? You might think that a good actor's headshot definitely must show your beautiful face that’s flawless and stripped of any imperfections like acne, wrinkles, grey hairs, thinning hair, scars, yellow teeth, and bags. It’s an image of you that shows you in the best possible light, right? Well you would be totally wrong. A good acting headshot shows what you look like in real life. An acting headshot should look indistinguishable from you if someone were to see you in person after seeing your headshot.

Unfortunately, a lot of actors think that a headshot is a glamorized photo of themselves that is meant to show them looking perfect, but really that’s how to quickly have an unusable headshot from industry standards. This is not to say that your headshot cannot be retouched to remove blemishes or things that would otherwise not be there on a different day.

A good headshot should be able to show off your personality, your versatility, your age, your energy, all of your features and history. History is a major thing actors often never consider. Being able to see someone’s history in their image means you can see the creases and lines of time, the grey hairs of wisdom, and scars from a life fully lived or maybe even the opposite if they are younger and barely entering in the world. Taking an acting headshot is not the same thing as doing a model photoshoot. An actors headshot captures the actors face and soul.

Types of Headshot Poses

My go-to poses when I am photographing my actors are: putting the hands on the hips, crossing the arms, and putting your hands into your back pocket.

A lot of the focus during a headshot session should really be on the face. It is after all called a HEADSHOT.

However, you would be surprised how many actors are unable to change their facial expressions. I have to teach actors to do eyebrow exercises so that they can move their brow muscles and give me a different look with more emotion. I’ll ask them to squint their eyes more to communicate more depth and it’s often a struggle. I’ll have to prep actors how to stabilize their head movement as to not throw their heads too far back or drop their chins too far low.

From my experience when actors are in front of the camera and they are not familiar with it, they can sometimes disconnect from their emotions and what happens is we get really flat headshots that make them look like they couldn’t act if their lives depended on it. This is where it requires a really talented headshot photographer who can spot this and guide actors into the right expressions that showcases their versatility and emotional range.

When actors come in and are really stiff this is how I know they’re overthinking the process and are in their heads too much. Other times actors come in and they’re posing like they are taking pictures for instagram. I would say the selfie/instagram posing is more common. Sometimes I have to remind women that they aren’t taking these headshots for instagram, so I don’t care what side of their face the like more they have to show their FULL face.

When you're thinking about how to pose for an acting headshot, just remember to keep it simple.

Pose 1- Hands On Hips

Put your hands on your hips. Works well for both male and females. Keeping a space between your arms and torso widens your positioning in a photo and shows your figure more. It also is just way more flattering.

Pose 2 - Crossing Your Arms

Crossing your arms always works well to show a bit more confidence and composure. Crossing your arms should feel strong, secure, and with intention. Sometimes people get this confused with hugging yourself which always looks like the exactly opposite. They’ll cross their arms, but are really cupping their arms and it registers as insecure, vulnerable, and unsure.

Pose 3 - Hands In Your Back Pocket

Putting your hands in your back pocket is always a great go-to pose as it allows actors to focus on their facial expressions more and shows more depth in image from a compositional perspective since your arms are behind you as oppose to the side of you.

Pose 4 - Hands In Pocket

Putting your hands in your pocket either in your front pants pocket or jacket pocket help close the spacing between your arms and torso as to not make it as wide as pose 1.

Pose 5 - Mid-Laugh Pose

Mid laugh pose is great for commercial, you want to be captured in mid-laugh and often times the actors mouth will be a little open to show the teeth and to let out the natural smile. You can only produce this pose naturally, but you can identify it because usually the shoulders are a bit higher up.

Headshot Body Position

Here are some helpful tips on having great body positioning as to not look or feel awkward:

Stand straight with your shoulders back, but not tense.
Keep a small space between your arms and torso
Keep your head looking up at the camera at a slight diagonal angle upwards.
Avoid slouching where it creates unnecessary wrinkles
Avoid dipping your chin too low that it creates a double chin

Facial Expressions In Headshots

One of the things that makes you a good actor is your ability to convey emotion through facial expressions. You have to know what emotions look like and be familiar with different characters because it’s easier to pull out an expression when you think of the character as oppose to the other way around. Pull inspiration from life experience in which you've seen hundreds of faces—maybe you've worked in retail or as a bartender, or perhaps you grew up with a large family and think about the personalities of the people you’ve come across. How would you write their character in a script? What would their demeanor be and how would they enter the room? These are the characters you can go to when you’re thinking of “arrogant,” “charismatic,” “flirtatious,” “alpha guy,” “intelligently beautiful,” etc.

Eyes

Finding good pictures of actors' eyes is important because it helps you see exactly how each expression looks on someone else's face. How do you feel when looking into their eyes? Try to analyze what emotion the image you’re looking at is conveying. Start learning how to evoke emotion through your eyes because it makes for very powerful subtle communication techniques even while you’re acting in projects.

How Many Different Poses and Looks Do You Need For Your Headshots?

It’s best not to think about the poses. That is photographers job. As an actor, your job is to think about how many different sides of who you are you can reveal.

We are all very complex humans with a vast array of an emotional spectrum.

Everyone has a side of them that is strong and resilient, vulnerable and insecure, warm and endearing, or funny and lively. Tap into those different emotions and versions of yourself so that it’s captured during your headshot session.

The more sides of you the camera gets to capture the better it is for your agents to figure out which kind of direction to push you towards. Plus, it allows you to have a lot more options if you’re submitting yourself for different projects.

As far as how many looks you need (different outfit changes) I would say anywhere between 3-6 looks is great for any actor to start with. You can read more about it in a blog I wrote here.

What Poses Do Casting Directors Look For In Headshots?

Casting directors are looking for actors to fill the description of the role they are casting for. That’s it. If they’re casting for a Mexican women in her 30’s and you are a white woman in her 50’s, then that role isn’t for you. It doesn’t matter if you crossed your arms, put your hands on your hips, or back pocket in your image. These are just little things I am sharing with you to make your headshot experience move quicker with more of an effective and efficient outcome. At the end of the day it’s important to remember a casting director is looking to fill in a very specific role that almost always has to do with the physical appearance first.

These are the basic guidelines towards different poses you can implement throughout your session that any professional acting headshot photographer will be able to help guide you through. Good luck at your next session.

Brandon Andre - Headshots Los Angeles Photographer

If you are in the Los Angeles, Phoenix, or Washington DC area and need professional actor headshots with an experienced top headshots photographer, contact Brandon Andre HERE. There is a reason why Brandon Andre is considered one of the best headshot photographers in Los Angeles and the headshot industry today. He delivers quality headshots that will get you booked!

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How To Pose For A Headshot