John Cameron Mitchell, the star of the upcoming Tiger King miniseries, Joe Vs. Carole, wasn’t actually a huge fan of the original Netflix series.
In an interview with Vulture, the actor discussed why.
For him, the documentary lacked empathy. It treated its subject more as caricatures than fully rounded human beings. In fact, he couldn’t even finish watching. He felt like the point of the documentary was more about the viewer feeling superior than learning anything helpful.
“Look how crazy these people are, we don’t particularly care about them, let’s all feel better than them,” he said.
This is one of Cameron’s first major mainstream roles. He’s also known for his work in Hedwig and the Angry Inch
As a refresher, Tiger King follows the life of Joe Exotic, an internet celebrity and exotic animal park owner. It also looks at the inner workings of other exotic animal parks. It’s an absolutely wild documentary, and it happened to be released right around the time the pandemic hit. So it became wildly popular.
But the documentary also feels frozen in time. Many questions whether or not we should even have a Tiger King series as it seems to have fallen from cultural relevance. But at least it’s looking like Mitchell is trying to approach a role with a level of nuance he felt the original series lacked.
“I mean, he was an attempted murderer. But I tried to do right by him in the portrayal so he’s not a monster,” Mitchell explained.
‘Joe Vs. Carol Will Tackle Joe Exotic’s Dispute With Carole Baskin
One of the wildest and most outrageous parts of the entire Tiger King series is the feud that exotic had with Animal Sanctuary owner Carole Baskin, who he believes murdered her husband (these claims are unsubstantiated). The two got into multiple legal disputes before Joe eventually tried to have her killed.
And while there are definitely doubts about whether or not a Tiger King show could possibly deliver, the trailer might pique your interest. It also features Kate Mckinnon in the role of Carole Baskin. Mckinnon is known for causing major laughs on Saturday Night Live. She’s an absolute riot, and seems like she’s blended quite well into the role. Even though this one definitely doesn’t look like anything she’s done before.
The trailer even shows that the show will mention the documentary getting shot. It’ll also feature a lot of the legal battle that happened after the documentary wrapped filming.
If you want to watch JOE VS. CAROLE when it comes out, the mini-series is set to release on March 3rd.
