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There’s nothing John Cameron Mitchell loves more than a bad town, which is why he’s (at least on screen) to Wynnewood, Oklahoma, home of Joe Exotic’s one-time exotic zoo. According to Variety, the Hedwig And The Angry Inch star is as the malicious zoo owner-convicted criminal as Kate McKinnon’s Carole Baskin in NBCUniversal’s screenplay of Wondery’s podcast about the eccentric tiger owner and one-time presidential candidate.
“I am delighted to take on the role of this modern folk hero,” Mitchell said in a statement on Monday. ‘Joe and I are the same age and I grew up like him in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. That’s why I feel I know a little 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 becomes an obsession and eventually a suspected assassination attempt, will reportedly appear across NBC, Peacock and USA Network. For the younger viewers who may only know Mitchell for his relatively restrained turn Skril or The good fight, please do yourself a favor and check out his 1998 rock music Hedwig. Not that Hedwig and Joe Exotic were cut from precious same cloth, but it looks like they’re going to the same hairdresser at the exact center between Wynnewood and Junction City, Kansas.