Actor headshots

The casting submission earns the audition before the read.

AI actor headshots for commercial, theatrical, and self-tape submissions. The photo on the casting site, the agency profile, the IMDb page. Hand-picked, graded, and delivered in under 90 minutes.

Get my headshots See sample headshots

Built by Joshua Albanese · 20+ years behind the lens · 15,000+ studio sessions

★ 4.8 stars on Trustpilot
15,000+ studio sessions of experience
Delivered in under 90 minutes
Plain-language redo policy

Pick your submission type

Commercial, theatrical, and self-tape have different rules

Casting directors expect different photos for different categories. The grading checklist tunes for each.

Commercial

Approachable, warm, "neighbor"

A real smile, soft natural light, casual styling. The look that lands you in a national insurance spot, a CPG ad, or a healthcare commercial. Reads as someone an audience trusts inside 6 seconds.

Theatrical / dramatic

Grounded, present, range

Calm expression, neutral background, eyes that hold the camera. The look that earns a callback for a network drama, a feature, or a streaming series. Reads as range, not a fixed type.

Self-tape and digital

Casting-site and agency profile

The photo on Actors Access, Casting Networks, IMDb, and your agency's web profile. Multiple looks across one session so the casting director sees the range without scrolling 50 photos.

Sample actor headshots

Approachable, dramatic, and self-tape-ready

The looks that earn the callback. Real outputs from real customer uploads.

How it works

Get your headshots in minutes, not days

Three steps. Phone-friendly upload. Hand-picked delivery. No studio appointment, no wardrobe prep, no half-day blocked off.

1 Upload

Upload 10 selfies

Phone photos are fine. Mix up the angles, expressions, and outfits. Take them in the last year so the AI grades you, not a younger you.
2 Generate & grade

The AI builds and grades your photos

Every shot is scored against a working photographer's checklist. Lighting, eyes, sharpness, identity match. The bad ones get tossed before you ever see them.
3 Delivery

Hand-picked set in under 90 minutes

Every photo passed before it reached you. Most orders finish in less than an hour. Download, share, set as your LinkedIn profile photo, done.

Get my headshots If it doesn't look like you, we redo it. No questions, no fine print.

Honest answer

When AI is not the right tool for an actor

Aurawave is honest about this because the studio is real. Some submissions need a real photographer in the room.

+Union submissions and high-stakes auditions. A network or studio audition with a name attached usually expects a recent in-studio session. Use AI for the agency profile and self-tape, book a real photographer for the prestige submission.
+Strong type or character work. If your submission depends on a specific costume, prosthetic, or physical character, AI cannot stage it. A real photographer can.
+Some casting platforms ban AI submissions. Always check the casting platform's terms before uploading an AI photo. Aurawave is the right tool when AI is allowed and the photo just has to read as a clean professional shot.

For everything else (the agency profile, the self-tape thumbnail, the casting-site update at 9 p.m. before tomorrow's submission), Aurawave delivers in under 90 minutes at a fraction of the cost.

The math

Aurawave vs. an actor photographer

An actor headshot session in NYC or LA runs $400 to $1,200 with retouching. Aurawave runs $19 to $59 for a graded set in 90 minutes.

With Aurawave

+ $19 to $59 per pack
+ Under 90 minutes, no booking
+ About 25 graded photos with multiple looks
+ Refresh anytime, no studio visit

Hiring an actor photographer

– $400 to $1,200 per session in NYC and LA
– 2 to 4 weeks for booking and retouching
– 8 to 15 final selects with retouching
– Re-book a session every 18 to 24 months

Founder & photographer

Joshua Albanese

Built by a working photographer

20+ years behind the lens. 15,000 studio sessions in the rubric.

Joshua spent 20+ years behind the lens. He ran a top-10 US headshot studio in Chicago from 2007 to 2024. He saw the AI category shipping photos that looked like models, not the real people who paid for them.

Aurawave is the fix. The same checklist he uses on studio shoots, baked into the grading layer. The AI is the camera. The photographer is still in the room.

20+

Years behind the lens
15K+

Studio sessions
F500

Client roster

Photographed for

Trustpilot Stripe Google Spotify asana

Read Joshua's full story

What customers say

Real reviews from real customers

4.8 / 5 across 7,800+ Trustpilot reviews

"The AI-generated results are unnervingly accurate, like someone extracted the professional version of me that exists."

Jeremy B.

Trustpilot · LinkedIn refresh

"I needed headshots for a last-minute conference, and Aurawave delivered in record time. The speed doesn't compromise quality."

Frank M.

Trustpilot · Conference deadline

"Aurawave gave me a professional look I couldn't achieve with selfies or amateur photography."

Lance H.

Trustpilot · Business owner

"I appreciate how Aurawave's AI handles diversity. The headshots look great for people of all ethnicities and ages."

George B.

Trustpilot · Healthcare exec

Read all 7,800+ reviews on Trustpilot

If it doesn't look like you, we redo it

That's the whole policy. No fine print. No clause that voids the redo if you download a photo to inspect it.

Same business day turnaround One sentence, no clauses Keep what you like

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about AI actor headshots

Will casting directors know my headshot is AI?

A graded Aurawave output passes the scan a casting director gives a submission. The 6-second photo scan looks for face, expression, and type, not pixel-level AI tells. The platform-level question matters more than the photo: always check whether the casting site allows AI submissions before uploading.

Are AI headshots banned on Actors Access, Casting Networks, or IMDb?

Policies are evolving. Some platforms allow AI photos as long as they look like the real performer. Some restrict AI for specific submission types. Always check the platform's current terms. Aurawave's position is that an AI photo built from your real selfies that still looks like you is not deceptive, but the platform decides what they accept.

Can I use Aurawave for a self-tape audition?

Yes for the thumbnail, the photo on your slate card, or the agency profile that links to the tape. Aurawave generates the photo. The actual self-tape video is a different production. We focus on the casting-photo side.

Will the photo work for both commercial and theatrical?

Yes when you pick the right pack. The Standard pack ships multiple looks across one session, so you get an approachable commercial smile, a grounded theatrical expression, and self-tape-ready frames in the same delivery.

Is this the same thing as an author headshot?

No. Actor headshots and author headshots are different categories. Author headshots go on book jackets and back-cover bios. Actor headshots go on casting submissions and agency profiles. The styling is different, the audience is different, and the platforms are different. Aurawave handles both, but they are separate jobs.

What if a delivered photo does not look like me?

We redo the whole set, no charge. Reply within 14 days, we regenerate within 48 hours. The redo policy has no fine print.

Built for your use case

Headshots that walk in before you do

Pick the use case. Aurawave's grading rubric tunes for the visual cues that matter for that audience: confident eye line for executives, warm expression for healthcare, sharp wardrobe for lawyers.