There’s nothing John Cameron Mitchell loves more than a wicked little town, which is why he’s headed (onscreen, at least) to Wynnewood, Oklahoma, home to Joe Exotic’s now-closed exotic animal park. According to Variety, the Hedwig and the Angry Inch star has been cast as the ostentatious zoo owner turned convicted felon across from Kate McKinnon’s Carole Baskin in NBCUniversal’s scripted take on Wondery’s podcast about the eccentric tiger owner and onetime presidential candidate.
“I’m thrilled to take on the role of this modern folk antihero,” Mitchell said in a statement Monday. “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.”
The upcoming limited series, which follows Mitchell’s Exotic as his hatred toward McKinnon’s Baskin spirals into obsession and, eventually, an alleged attempted-murder plot, will reportedly air across NBC, Peacock, and USA Network. For those younger viewers who may only know Mitchell for his relatively restrained turns on Shrill or The Good Fight, please do yourself a favor and watch his 1998 rock musical Hedwig. Not that Hedwig and Joe Exotic are cut from the preciously same cloth, but they do seem like they might go to the same hairdresser at the exact midpoint between Wynnewood and Junction City, Kansas.
