An Interview with one of the Baby Eaters.-
spoilers.From Collegian Online
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2009/02/09/student_takes_road_tri p_appear.aspx
Student takes 'road' trip; appears in upcoming film
By Erin Rowley
Collegian Staff Writer
At Penn State he goes by Andy Goga, but in the film The Road, he's better known as Baby Eater #3.
Goga (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) will play a small role in The Road, scheduled to be released sometime in 2009 by The Weinstein Co. The movie is a post-apocalyptic film based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by Cormac McCarthy, who also authored No Country for Old Men.
The story follows a man and his son traveling across the country, trying to survive in the now barren landscape.
"They try to avoid people like me who eat children," Goga said, adding he has read the book.
Goga auditioned for a small role in the film after his mother saw an ad in the paper that she thought described her son.
"My mom said, 'Hey look, there's this ad in the paper calling for very pale, skinny bearded men,' " he said.
Goga said he agreed he was perfect for the part because he is indeed "very pale and very skinny and bearded," but that wasn't enough on its own to get the part.
"I took some pictures of myself covered in mud and wearing a loin cloth, and they gave me an audition slot," he said.
Goga's mother, Karen Goga, said her son had just starred as the Cowardly Lion in his high school's musical, The Wizard of Oz. She thought his interest in acting -- and the beard he grew for the part -- would make him a frontrunner for the role in The Road, she said.
After proving he could portray a savage cannibal, the film's producers put makeup on Goga and had him try on "weird" clothes full of dirt and holes, he said.
Goga, who lives about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh, drove for about an hour and a half until reaching southwestern Pennsylvania, where the filming took place, he said.
"It kind of looked like the moon after a nuclear winter. I didn't even know such places existed on Earth," he said of the location.
Though Goga's role is small, he said he enjoyed watching and being involved with the filmmaking process. He added he enjoyed meeting the movie's stars, including Viggo Mortensen.
"I shook his hand," Goga said. "He didn't seem like the friendliest guy, but I'm sure he had a lot to do."
Because of the makeup necessary for the movie, Goga also sat next to a star actor without even realizing it.
"I was getting my makeup done next to this older gentleman," he said. "It turned out it was Robert Duvall."
The extreme hair, makeup and clothing, which were chemically treated to make them look dirty, will make it difficult for even Goga's close friends to recognize him, he said.
"They gave me this haggard sort of wig, so I have this long hair draped over my face. They probably wouldn't recognize me unless I told them to watch out for it," he said.
Though Goga's mother said The Road isn't the kind of movie she would normally see, and "she's more into romantic comedies," she will definitely check it out, and said
she thinks she can recognize her son anywhere -- no matter how much makeup he's wearing.
