Photo: Santiago Felipe / Getty Images
There’s nothing John Cameron Mitchell loves more than a mean town, which is why he goes (on screen at least) to Wynnewood, Oklahoma, home to Joe Exotic’s one-time exotic animal park. According to Variety, the Hedwig and the angry inch star has been cast as the showy zoo owner turned convicted felon opposite Kate McKinnon’s Carole Baskin in NBCUniversal’s scripted version of Wondery’s podcast about the eccentric tiger owner and one-time presidential candidate.
“I am 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 man and his desperate attempt to conquer an inhospitable world.”
The upcoming limited series, which follows Mitchell’s Exotic as his hatred of McKinnon’s Baskin turns into obsession and ultimately an alleged attempted murder, will reportedly air on NBC, Peacock and USA Network. For those younger viewers who may only know Mitchell for his relatively understated twists and turns Shrill or The good fight, please do yourself a favor and watch his 1998 rock musical HedwigNot that Hedwig and Joe Exotic are cut from the same precious fabric, but it looks like they go to the same hairdresser right in the middle between Wynnewood and Junction City, Kansas.