Acting Terms Every Beginner Should Know

Every industry has its own language, and acting is worse than most. Sides, slate, avail, martini shot: none of it is obvious, and nobody hands you a dictionary.

These are the acting terms every beginner should know before their first audition or set day, explained in plain English.

Learn these and you will understand every casting notice you read and every instruction you are given on set.

• Sides: the specific script pages you perform at an audition. Usually a scene or two, not the whole script.
• Slate: introducing yourself on camera at the start of an audition. Typically your name, and sometimes height, agency, or location.
• Self-tape: an audition you film yourself and upload instead of attending in person. Now the industry default, covered fully in our self-tape guide.
• Callback: a second-round audition. You made the shortlist and they want another look, often with producers or the director present.
• Cold read: performing material you were just handed, with little or no prep time.
• Reader: the person who reads the other characters' lines opposite you in an audition, usually deliberately flat.
• Breakdown: the official description of a project and its roles, including age range, type, and pay. This is what you read when browsing casting calls.
• Type: the category of roles you naturally read as: the young dad, the tough cop, the quirky best friend. Casting thinks in types, so knowing yours helps you submit smart.

• Avail (or "on avail"): casting asks if you are available for the shoot dates. It is not a booking, but you are in final consideration. Keep the dates open.
• Pin (or "pinned"): similar to avail. They are holding you as a strong option while decisions are finalized.
• Booked: you have the job. Congratulations.
• Released: you were on avail or pinned and they went another way. It stings, but being pinned at all means you auditioned well.
• Booking rate: the pay listed in the breakdown. Union projects follow contract minimums, while non-union rates vary widely. The difference is explained in union vs non-union acting.

• Call time: the exact time you must arrive. Early is on time. On time is late.
• Call sheet: the daily document listing scenes, locations, call times, and contacts. Read the whole thing.
• Blocking: the planned movement of actors within a scene. You will rehearse it, then repeat it exactly for camera.
• Marks: tape spots on the floor showing where you stand or stop. "Hitting your mark" means landing there without looking down.
• First team / second team: first team is the actors. Second team is the stand-ins who hold positions while lighting is set.
• Back to one: return to your starting position for another take.
• Martini shot: the last shot of the day.
• Wrap: the end of shooting, for the day or the whole production. "That's a wrap on you" means you are done.

• CD: casting director, the person hired to find actors for a project. They recommend, but directors and producers usually make final picks.
• AD: assistant director. On set, ADs run the schedule and are usually who background actors report to.
• Principal: a role with scripted lines or featured action, as opposed to background.
• Background (BG) / extra: performers filling out the world of a scene without lines. A common first credit, explained in how to become a background actor.
• Voucher: the pay form background actors complete on set. Keep copies of everything you sign.
• Reel: a short video compilation of your best on-camera work.

You do not need to memorize this list tonight.

Skim it now, then come back when a breakdown or a set instruction confuses you. Within a few auditions and one or two set days, this vocabulary becomes automatic.

The fastest way to learn the language is immersion: browse real breakdowns on a platform like Vibrant Casting and you will see these terms in their natural habitat, attached to roles you can actually submit for.