MOORPARK : ‘Freshman’ Star Comes to Campus
Mazee, a water monitor lizard, made the big time by appearing this summer in the movie “The Freshman” with Marlon Brando.
But he’s getting more show business work at Moorpark College, where he stars in educational shows each week.
Snakes, lions, sea lions and llamas also appear in the presentations by students in the college’s two-year Exotic Animal Training and Management Program, said Lynn Doria, assistant director of the program.
Mazee is on loan to the college from Julian Sylvester Reptile Rentals, an agency that introduced Mazee to movie work.
The lizard, which weighs about 70 pounds and is seven feet long, is featured in several scenes of “The Freshman.” He is shown being walked in a halter and sitting in an automobile in a baby seat, Doria said.
He is ideal for movie work because he is docile, unlike other water monitor lizards. The creatures are usually prone to bite, Doria said.
Mazee, 17, was born in Thailand and smuggled into California about three years ago. The state Department of Fish and Game confiscated the lizard and transferred custody to Sylvester.
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