Meet Shane Hartline

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shane Hartline.

Shane, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m an actor born in Winter Haven, FL and I currently fully reside in Atlanta, GA. I spend time in Los Angeles as well but am currently fully residing here. I’ve always had a passion for entertaining. At a very young age, I was struck with a neurological disorder that affects the voice known as Spasmodic Dysphonia. I got it a the rare age of five, most people don’t get the disorder till their 40s -50s. Most people don’t even know what this is. Though if you’ve seen Jordan Peele’s hit new horror film “US”, actress Lupita Nyongo’s haunting voice was inspired by Robert F Kennedy’s voice, who suffers from a severe case of Spasmodic Dysphonia. Though I now have a very mild case, at a young age I had it pretty heavy. Being a heavy, redhead, freckled kid with a funny voice, I had the full package for “being picked on”. I always like to say entertaining found me. I used comedy as a safety blanket. It was always easier to do a funny voice or character to hide my “different” voice and get people to laugh with me and not at me. I found out at an early age that I really enjoyed making people laugh and entertaining people. At the age of fifteen, I began training to become a professional wrestler and at the age of seventeen began wrestling independently full time. In 2005 I was voted Pro Wrestling’s Rookie of the Year in Florida.

Soon thereafter, I decided to shift my focus to acting full time and began acting professionally at the age of twenty when I signed with my first agency in FL. I then began auditioning for commercials, television shows, etc. A few years later I landed a life-changing role in the feature film “Rock of Ages” acting alongside Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta Jones and more. I portrayed “Jimmy the Bartender” and the film allowed me to move to Los Angeles and fully immerse myself in the entertainment business. Since then I’ve had several television and film appearances (Disney Channel’s “Stuck in the Middle”, Jimmy Kimmel Live, etc.). I’ve done a live comedy show featuring an appearance by Chris Pratt and so much more. Being someone with a vocal condition in the entertainment business has been a challenge but I’m fortunate to have done so much more than even some people without one and I hope this inspires people with similar conditions to do the same.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge I’ve faced in the acting field with my vocal condition is mental. The fears. The fears of losing an opportunity, the fears of not getting an opportunity. The limitations the SD puts on my voice as I know there are only certain ways I can say certain words and we all know that that won’t work on most sets. Directors need you to say things certain ways. Luckily I’ve only ever been in a situation where this has happened two times, on very small projects. But those situations still created a paranoia in my head. It’s something I’ve struggled with, continue to struggle with but work on every day.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
I’m an actor that also produces a lot of my own content. I’m currently in post-production on a short film and a feature film. I’m in pre-production on a short film that is very near and dear to my heart called “Cookie”. Cookie will be the first film to show someone with a severe case of my speech condition and shine a spotlight on it as well. It will be my story as well as everyone else with the condition funneled through the lead character. People can find out more information on this project and it’s soon to launch Kickstarter campaign at www.CookieShortFilm.com. In addition to those projects, I produce a lot of live events. The live show I’m most known for is my “Hopefully Chris Pratt & Shane Hartline Show”. A show I produced in Los Angeles, CA for two years that was started simply because I was often told I look like Chris Pratt so I thought it’d be funny to try to do a show with him. He even appeared video in one of our shows, surprising the crowd. I just held a new show on April 27th at the Relapse Theater in Atlanta called, “SHAYNE”. Shayne, one of the characters I portray, is the “World’s #1 Social Media Influencer” who’s out of jail after releasing a very “controversial video” so he did this live show to make amends to all his fans. This is a comedic variety show I do that shines a spotlight and satires social media, influencers, YouTube and more.  Also, the theater and I are giving all ticket proceeds to the “Georgia Network to End Sexual Assault” and I plan to do more of these shows in the future.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I feel what has helped me the most in my career is my drive. When I have an idea, there’s nothing that’s going to stop me from making it happen. Like I said I’ve been fortunate enough to do more than most without a vocal condition in this industry. I want to build upon that and use my experience to inspire people.

Contact Info:

• Address: My “SHAYNE” show can be seen Saturday April 27th 8pm at the Relapse Comedy Theater 380 14th Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30318. Tickets can be purchased at www.RelapseComedy.com
• Website: www.shanehartline.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/shane_hartline
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/shanehartline
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/shanehartline

Image Credit:
Adam Arnali, Bret Green

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