Hal Whiteside, who plays the Slippery Whiskery’s unflappable bartender, Damien, is an Atlanta-based character actor. He actively works in feature films, indies, shorts, commercials, and webseries. A proud Southerner, Hal was born and raised in Tuscumbia, AL, also the birthplace of Helen Keller. He and his wife transplanted to Georgia and have one son.

What do you and your character in The Girl From Carolina have in common?

Like Damien, I like to keep order and structure around me at all times. If anyone gets out of line we like to step in and be the cooler. We both have a lot of character and are loyal to a fault relating to those we are close to and consider friends.

Besides making redneck web series, what other kind of stuff are you into?

I am a full-time actor based in the Atlanta area. I just wrapped a sheriff role in feature Atlanta Vampire Movie, a small role in feature Misfortune, and leads on two short films. I am always looking for quality character roles in good projects whether big production or low budget. I put just as much effort into a paid project as I do a non-paid role. I enjoy building a character and bringing to set background and baggage of that character that no one may know about, things that make them the way they are or affect how they react and only I may know the reason. It’s fun to know something about your character that no one else knows, same as real life. As example, Damien really watches over Ferrari more than she knows and will go out of his way to protect her because he has a daughter he never had a relationship with, a small building of his character that no one knew about.

What was your favorite on set meal while filming The Girl From Carolina?

I was tripping on peyote when shooting so I really don’t remember much about the meals. Seems like meat was involved at some point and I enjoyed it (that’s what she said).