John Cameron Mitchell (L) and Joe Exotic. (Mitchell photo by Mark Bailey, from Flickr, Exotic’s mugshot in public domain)
Kate McKinnon has the Joe Exotic to her Carole Baskin.
“Hedwig and the Angry Inch” creator and star John Cameron Mitchell is set to take on the role of the Tiger King himself in the upcoming limited series being produced by NBCUniversal Television.
According to TVLine.com, Mitchell’s Exotic will star opposite McKinnon’s Baskin, who was also named as an executive producer of the series in August.
The series — tentatively titled “Joe Exotic” — will be based on the Wondery podcast of the same name and not the popular Netflix documentary series “Tiger King.”
“[‘Joe Exotic’] centers on big cat enthusiast Baskin, who learns that fellow exotic animal lover Joe ‘Exotic’ Schreibvogel is breeding and using his big cats for profit,” writes TVLine.com. “She sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry. But Carole has a checkered past of her own and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose what he sees as her hypocrisy.”
The series is planned to be release across to networks, NBC and cable’s USA channel, as well as the Peacock streaming service, NBCUniversal stated.
“I’m thrilled to take on the role of this modern folk antihero,” said Mitchell in a statement. “Joe and I are the same age and like him, I grew up queer in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas so I feel like I know a little bit about this guy and his desperate attempt to conquer an inhospitable world.”
NBCUNiversal has yet to announce a release date for the series. Amazon is also working on a limited series based on Exotic starring Nicolas Cage. No release date for that series has been announced.
