If a scripted TV show or movie based on Tiger King were to be made, the titular big cat oddball himself apparently knows who should play him. According to one of the Netflix series' directors, Joe Allen Maldonado-Passage, AKA Joe Exotic, fancies himself a Brad Pitt type, but he'd also entertain an audition from David Spade, as long as he's rocking garb from the 2001 comedy, Joe Dirt.
When asked by THR whether Exotic had voiced his opinion on who should play him in a hypothetical Tiger King movie or series, co-director Rebecca ChaiklinChaiklin responded in the affirmative.
"He would like Brad Pitt or David Spade to play him," Chaiklin said. "He doesn’t refer to David Spade as David Spade — he refers to him as 'Joe Dirt.'"
To be honest, I can't argue with the Tiger King's choices. In his bleach-blond mulleted, handlebar-moustachioed persona, Exotic doesn't exactly exude a traditional Hollywood charm. But imagining Brad Pitt in full Joe Exotic costume – there might actually be a fit there. As for David Spade as Joe Dirt as Joe Exotic, I don't think any further explanation is warranted.
While Exotic now sits in a prison cell serving a 22-year sentence, he isn't the only big cat connoisseur Tiger King paints in a less-than-flattering light. The producers of the Netflix series have responded to accusations from Joe Exotic's undoer, Carole Baskin, that Tiger King is "salacious and sensational."
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