The Tragedy of Gary Poulter, Nic Cage's Homeless Co-Star
Rich Juzwiak · 04/11/14 10:21AMLast year, Gary Poulter, one of the stars of David Gordon Green's new movie Joe, died in a homeless encampment in Austin. For Joe, Green had mixed non-professional actors with stars like Nicolas Cage (as Joe, a hero in his rural community who's this close to snapping) and up-and-comers like Tye Sheridan, as Gary, the 15-year-old boy that Joe takes under his wing. In that sense, the casting was along the lines of other modern poorsploitation cinema like Winter's Bone and Gummo. Poulter plays Wade (aka G-Daawg), Gary's abusive father, a drunk who is as limber, and coherent, as Charles Manson. Gary and Wade join Joe's crew of tree-killing manual laborers, who prep forests to be cleared for the planting of valuable pine trees. Only the kid can hold onto the job.