ATLANTA — A well-known bartender at a popular Vinings speakeasy is featured in a new IMDB TV show.
Kraig Dane, an Iowa native who has been acting for slightly more than a decade, portrays Phil in “Leverage: Redemption,” created by Chris Downey and John Rogers. Downey’s credits include executive producer on “Suits” and “The King of Queens,” while Rogers’ credits include executive producer on the new “MacGyver” series.
Dane appears in the episode “The Jackal Job,” which aired on October 8.
When he’s not on set, Dane is a bartender at Eleanor’s, a highly regarded speakeasy located at Muss & Turner’s in Smyrna, Georgia. His position allows him the flexibility to work between roles, and quite often, patrons recognize him for his other job.
“My mentality has always been what’s next or what can I do better,” Dane said of his process. “With acting, it’s such a creative process, and there are so many ways a given movie, scene, or line can be portrayed that you can’t be ‘right,’ and that is a really hard concept for me.
“I’m still working through that, being okay with trying things and not getting down if someone else has a different idea,” Dane added. “I didn’t do it wrong, ‘I’m not what they are looking for, or they just saw this moment differently’ I’m constantly trying to remind myself of this.”
To date, Dane’s credits include recognizable roles on “Criminal Minds” and “This Is Us.” In another recent role, Dane — whose first role was in Fortnight, a 2010 low-budget film — portrayed Boseman, a pivotal character in the new Amazon Prime series “The Underground Railroad” that premiered in May.
Dane moved to Los Angeles, but like so many in “Hollywood,” he relocated to Atlanta as more productions began filming in the metro Atlanta area.
“Leverage: Redemption” debuted on July 9 and is a revival of “Leverage,” which aired on TNT from 2008 to 2012. The show was filmed in New Orleans starting in August 2020 and stars Gina Bellman, Aldis Hodge and Christian Kane.
