You have probably heard about “Tiger King” by now. It’s almost an inescapable cultural reality of the 2020 pandemic lockdown. The Netflix docuseries about the surreal life of Joe Exotic has been a massive hit, prompting record-breaking numbers for Netflix and, in the process, producing a pop culture artifact that will no doubt, sadly, be associated with the pandemic when all is said and done.
A movie version of “Joe Exotic” will surely be in the works, especially with actors all over the industry clamoring to play Joe. We’ve already had actors such as Dax Shepard, and Edward Norton saying they’d love to play the redneck tiger owner. However, as for Joe himself, he has his own personal preferences for who should play him and one of them is a rather surprising, err, mismatch.
In a new interview with THR, director of Tiger King Rebecca Chaiklin said Joe has already picked the actors he’d love to play him in a movie version of his life story and none other than Brad Pitt and “Joe Dirt” himself David Spade figure on the shortlist:
Chaiklin said, “He would like Brad Pitt or David Spade to play him…He doesn’t refer to David Spade as David Spade — he refers to him as ‘Joe Dirt.’”
Of course, “Joe Dirt” is the character Spade played in the similarly-titled film, where he bears a striking resemblance to Joe Exotic, especially the mullet wig. When I first started watching the series, I couldn't help but notice the striking resemblance to the Spade character. The 2001 movie bombed with critics, but somehow, managed to find a cult following over the years.
You can watch “Tiger King” on Netflix now.