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April 19 (UPI) -- John Cameron Mitchell has been cast as Tiger King Joe 'Exotic' Maldonado in NBCUniversal's upcoming scripted limited series, which also stars Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin. Joe Exotic, from showrunner Ethan Frankel and Universal Content Productions, is based on Season 2 of the Wondery podcast Over My Dead Body from Robert Moor.
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The new series will depict Maldonado and Baskin's rivalry. Maldonado was an exotic animal lover who breeds and uses big cats for profit. Baskin, a big cat enthusiast, tries to shut him down.
Maldonado and Baskin entered the limelight after appearing in Netflix's popular Tiger King documentary series, which also followed their rivalry.
Frankel is also penning the script and will co-executive produce with McKinnon, Hernan Lopez, Marshall Lewy and Aaron Hart.
A premiere date has not been set. Joe Exotic will air across NBC, USA Network and streaming service Peacock.
"I'm thrilled to take on the role of this modern folk antihero. 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 guy and his desperate attempt to conquer an inhospitable world," Mitchell said in a statement.
Mitchell stars in Hulu comedy series Shrill and is set to star in Netflix's adaptation of comic book series Sandman. He is best known for starring in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Nicholas Cage will also be portraying Maldonado in a scripted series for Amazon.
