(Radio Iowa) – An actor who may be best known for his role in a movie that was released more than 30 years ago will appear in central Iowa this weekend at GalaxyCon Des Moines. Brian O’Halloran was cast in the role of Dante in “Clerks,” which followed a day in the lives of two convenience store clerks. It was his first film and it launched O’Halloran on a long, successful acting career. When fans come to his booth at conventions, he’s typically remembered for that film — and its director. “Usually it’s the Kevin Smith movies, although lately, this past March, I was on a game show on Fox called ‘The Floor,’ hosted by Rob Lowe,” O’Halloran says, “so I have a lot of people now coming up to me who had watched that show.”

Brian O’Halloran (Photo courtesy of GalaxyCon)

Since “Clerks” hit movie screens in 1994, O’Halloran has been featured in at least eight films that were written and directed by Smith, and he tells Radio Iowa several more Smith movies are in the works.”He’s a really chill and funny man and a terrific storyteller, so I always love working with him,” O’Halloran says. “You know, he could tell me to show up on the platform of the A Train in New York City in Times Square and not tell me what we’re doing and I’ll just show up, just because I know whatever he’s going to do is going to be something incredibly creative or incredibly funny.” The 55-year-old O’Halloran is a New York native and since “Clerks” and two sequels, he’s added at least 55 film credits to his resume, yet he’s still remembered for the Dante role from 1994.

“I don’t mind it, and find it a really great honor to be a part of it,” O’Halloran says. “I mean, the original ‘Clerks’ is a film that’s now part of the Library of Congress, so if it’s good enough for the government to certify it as worthy, then it’s good enough for me.” O’Halloran says when “Clerks 3” was released a few years ago, he spent 28 weeks on the road promoting it, and now he’s doing conventions like GalaxyCon once or twice a month. Besides his roles in more than 50 movies, he’s also an accomplished stage actor. “I love performing in front of a live audience,” he says. “You know, you have that moment, you have that energy, and you’ll have that immediate gratification of hearing the audience. If you’re doing something funny, especially hearing the laughter, or if you’re in a suspenseful kind of situation, hearing the pin drop, that’s how much of the attention you grab.”

Beyond the meet-and-greets for autographs and photos, O’Halloran says he’ll be hosting a live burlesque event at this weekend’s convention. GalaxyCon Des Moines runs Friday through Sunday at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.