In the wake of becoming media sensations, Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin are getting the scripted treatment on account of a new Peacock original true-crime series featuring John Cameron Mitchell and Kate McKinnon, respectively. With the cast actually meeting up, including the most recent expansion of Kyle MacLachlan as Baskin’s husband, Howard, ET has all you require to think about the highly anticipated restricted series, likely named Joe Exotic.
The Series
While their inconceivably obvious stories were related in the generally watched Netflix docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, the forthcoming drama depends on the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic, which initially created features about oneself broadcasted Tiger King, a gay polygamist side of the road zoo proprietor, and his unsavory encounters with a wild animal rescuer blamed for taking care of her missing spouse to a tiger.
McKinnon will executive produce alongside Wondery’s Hernan Lopez, Marshall Lewy and Aaron Hart. Etan Frankel (Sorry for Your Loss, Shameless) will write the series.
The Cast
The series was first reported with McKinnon set to depict Baskin, the founder of Big Cat Rescue, an animal sanctuary close to Tampa, Florida, that houses and rehabilitates exotic cats. The wild animal advocate is additionally the sworn enemy of Exotic and other big cat owners, Doc Antle and Mario Tabraue.
Baskin, who hence became the target of an alleged murder plot, has been blamed by Exotic and others for feeding her missing ex-husband, Don Lewis, to one of her tigers. The multimillionaire was married to Baskin prior to her present union with Howard, and he disappeared in 1997.
Exotic, the most expected role, where a few actors volunteered their services during the height of the docuseries’ popularity, went to Hedwig and the Angry Inch star Mitchell.
“I’m thrilled to take on the role of this modern folk antihero,” the actor said when the news was first announced. “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.”
Afterward, while talking with ET, Mitchell developed his personal connection to Exotic’s story. “Joe is the exact same age as me and lived in a lot of the same areas I lived in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas,” he shared. “So I kinda know a little bit about him, and I know about the kind of gay guy who, like, probably got picked on in middle school, but then was like, ‘Fk you, I’m gonna be more of a fking redneck than you are! I’m gonna take your goddamn male oppressor to the limit of the natural conclusion — as a murderer!”
He added that the “adaptation is gonna be much more personal. You really get to see them in their lives, with their lovers, so you get more of the emotional, human side as well as the absurd, you know, American insanity that they represent.”
Baskin’s present spouse, Howard, is set to be played by Twin Peaks star and Portlandia regular MacLachlan.
As found in the docuseries, Howard didn’t take Exotic’s attacks lying down. The two have sued each other over trademark issues identified with their restricting big cat businesses and Howard used a settlement to drain Exotic of his financial stability.
