Dwight from The Office becomes Tiger King’s Joe Exotic in a photo posted by Rainn Wilson. Having only arrived on Netflix within the last two weeks, Tiger King has become one of the most popular and talked about docuseries right now. The true-crime series focuses on the life of Joe Exotic as he strives to build the profile of his Oklahoma based exotic animal facility, the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park. Home to more than 1200 varieties of exotic animals such as tigers and bears, the park experienced considerable criticism from animal rights activist Carole Baskin. Baskin is also the owner of non-profit animal shelter Big Cat Rescue, which is located in Florida.
Despite the geographical distance between the two, Tiger King delves into how Exotic’s frustration with Baskin eventually led to the private zoo owner planning a murder-for-hire scheme on Baskin. The plan never came to fruition, but Exotic (whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage) was arrested and charged and is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence. The story is exactly the sort that one would expect from a dark comedy like Fargo or I Tonya, and its recent success on Netflix means that a limited, scripted Tiger King series is now in the works.
As the series is still in its very early stages of development, fans still aren’t certain who will be portraying Joe Exotic. Because that bit of casting information will make itself known at a later date, there’s still plenty of room to imagine (and laugh) at various possibilities. One of the most appealing efforts so far has come via one-time star of The Office, Rainn Wilson. The comedian posted a photo of himself as the notorious private zoo owner on his Instagram account. Check out the full image below of “Dwight Exotic”:
Whether or not Wilson is actually in the running for the role is unknown at this moment, but what we do know is that SNL’s Kate McKinnon will star in the series as Carole Baskin in addition to executive producing. Set for seven episodes, the series will reportedly focus on Baskin’s ongoing feud with Exotic – something that is sure to hold numerous opportunities for comedy. Some might argue that a feature film would better do this story justice rather than a TV series, given the amount of material that the original story holds. However, it is perhaps because there’s such a wealth of material that a TV series is the best option. More time can be given to those characters who need it, providing especially flamboyant characters like Exotic the degree of screen time they undoubtedly require.
At any rate, it will unfortunately be quite a while before we see a scripted TV series based on Tiger King. For now, however, seeing the likes of Wilson as Exotic is a definite treat. Hopefully, in the days and weeks ahead as the popularity of Tiger King continues to grow, more celebrities who are potentially well suited for the role of Exotic will continue to post their own attempts at pulling off the unique look.
