Joe Exotic, the central figure in the hit Netflix true-crime series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, has named Brad Pitt or David Spade as his preferred actors to play him in any future film adaptation.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, one of the series’ directors, Rebecca Chaiklin, said that Exotic (AKA Joseph Maldonado-Passage), who is currently serving a 22-year sentence in a Texas prison for attempting murder for hire, suggested the pair – though he referred to Spade as “Joe Dirt”, his character from the 2001 comedy described by the late critic Roger Ebert as a “low-rent Forrest Gump”.
Tiger King describes the feud between Exotic, a big-cat collector who has also been convicted for animal abuse, and animal rescuer Carole Baskin, which resulted in Exotic attempting to hire an undercover FBI agent to kill Baskin after posting numerous threats against her on social media.
Despite his criminal background, Exotic has emerged from Tiger King as a figure of unlikely popularity, with the Guardian’s André Wheeler describing him as the “mullet-wearing, gay, polyamorous exotic animal owner from rural Oklahoma [who has] become TV’s biggest talked about gay star”.
No film adaptations are currently thought to be in development, but a drama TV series starring Kate McKinnon has been in the pipeline since November. Actors including Dax Shepherd, Edward Norton and Jared Leto have been playfully expressing interest in the role on social media.