The most talked about show on television right now is the Netflix docuseries Tiger King. And trust me, you have to see it to believe it. On the surface, it’s about rival animal sanctuaries duking it out over supremacy, but beyond that, there are missing persons, murder-for-hire, cults, polygamy, reality television, country music videos and suicide.
It’s one of the wildest documentaries you’ll ever see and many actors are now campaigning to play roles in a possible adaptation of it. In fact, there are already reports that SNL cast member Kate McKinnon is set to portray Carole Baskin – an animal activist who has her own issues – in a new series.
Actors Dax Shepard and Edward Norton are the most recent names to throw their hats in the ring, though, as they both want to play the show’s lead character, Joe Exotic. Mr. Exotic is an animal park boss, but that doesn’t even begin to describe everything he does on Tiger King. Revealing any more would give it away, but let’s just say he’s more than a bit eccentric.
If I don't get cast as Joe Exotic in the eventual biopic, Hollywood is broken.
— dax shepard (@daxshepard) March 26, 2020
Um, step aside, pal. You’re way too young and buff and you know it. You could probably pull off Maldonado still, actually. Wouldn’t that be fun?
— Edward Norton (@EdwardNorton) March 26, 2020
Exotic is by far the most colorful character on the show (and that’s saying a lot), and while Shepard feels like he’s the obvious choice for the role, Norton insists that he himself should play Joe while saying that Dax should tackle another character. And perhaps he’s right.
After all, Norton is probably the better actor, but regardless of who ends up playing who, this could easily be the one of the greatest casts ever assembled with a mix of both dramatic and comedic talent joining the project. These roles would have to be played straight in the vein of Christopher Guest, though. There’s no other way to do it because the documentary itself is too outlandish.
On second thought, however, this might be a mistake. Maybe there’s no need to see actors portraying these people? Tiger King is seven episodes long and I’m already waiting for a follow up because there’s just so much more to talk about and see within this world.
