Lawyer's film role as 'Mr. Cannibal' leads to campaign controversy
A Pennsylvania lawyer who portrayed “Mr. Cannibal” in a 2013 horror film has learned his political endorsement is no longer wanted.
Lawyer and actor Alan Benyak of Charleroi supported Democrat Tom Wolf in a political ad for his gubernatorial campaign before Benyak’s film role became known, a campaign spokesman told Trib Live. The ad has since been removed from YouTube and Facebook, according to Trib Live, Penn Live and the Philadelphia Daily News.
BuzzFeed was first to note Benyak’s role in both the campaign ad and the “twisted” film Breeding Farm. An online summary described the movie this way: “Four friends are kidnapped by a mysterious man. The friends wake up in a basement, and realize they are part of something horrifying. A human breeding farm. They are to be milked, bred, and much, much worse!”
The characters Mr. Cannibal and his wife “are attorneys that fry and eat people,” a film description says.
In real life, BuzzFeed says, Benyak is a former Army lawyer and former judicial candidate. He released this statement to TribLive: “Unfortunately, I have become political fodder in a game of high-stakes politics due to a small role I played in a low budget film as a favor to a friend struggling to fulfill his own dreams. I’m a veteran, a small business owner, and I’m active in my community. If helping friends in need is what I’m charged with, then I am guilty, and I won’t apologize for it.”
Wolf has made his Jeep a centerpiece of his campaign, PennLive says. Benyak was one of several people who own Jeeps who were featured in the ad.
