CAT PEOPLE
The claws are out in a new Tiger King drama
DRAMA
Joe vs Carole
From Fri 4 March, Peacock on Sky
NETFLIX DOCUSERIES Tiger King famously helped most of the nation get through the first lockdown in
2020, and now the fascinating true story has been dramatised in an entertaining eight-part series.
Joe vs Carole follows the bitter feud between flamboyant private zoo owner Joe Exotic and animal-rights activist Carole Baskin, who campaigned to shut down Exotic’s park in Oklahoma.
As Exotic’s livelihood comes under threat, he begins a vendetta against Baskin, digging up dirt on her past and allegedly hiring hitmen to kill her at her animal sanctuary in Florida. He’s currently serving 21 years in prison after being found guilty of animal-abuse and murder-for-hire charges.
The series also explores the pair’s troubled pasts, and according to John Cameron Mitchell, who plays Exotic, reveals hidden sides to both.
‘This adaptation will surprise viewers, because you really see Joe and Carole as real people,’ he says. ‘It also honours the relationship that Joe had, which the docuseries didn’t mention, with his partner dying of AIDS. And you see how homophobia made him into this harsh figure who is sympathetic in one way but also a bit of a megalomaniac.’
HIDDEN DEPTHS
The cast also includes Saturday
Night Live regular Kate Mckinnon as Baskin, and Twin Peaks star Kyle Maclachlan as her husband Howard.
‘None of us are doing an impersonation,’ says Mitchell. ‘Because that can get cartoonish. We’re doing our versions of them.’
Mitchell, 58, who is best-known for his theatre work, reckons the characters in Joe vs Carole are straight out of Shakespeare.
‘It’s like playing Richard III crossed with Pericles,’ he says. ‘Joe is beaten all the way through his life, so playing him is a chance of a lifetime. I really had a blast.’