Anna Daniels
Chances are, even if you haven’t watched the Netflix series, “Tiger King,” you’ve at least heard all the buzz surrounding the controversial docu-series. At the center of the show is a man most commonly known as Joe Exotic.
Social media is ripe with memes of the big cat raising, mullet-wearing, Carole Baskin-hating tiger park owner. Regardless of how you feel about the tangled webs of murder for hire or polygamy, there’s one point on which most can agree – it would make an incredible Hollywood movie.
It was this notion that called comedian and actor Dax Shepard to tweet about his ‘calling.’ Shepard wants to be king and thinks he was born to portray the story of a man and his big cats.
Fans might agree he might be best suited to pull off the Joe Exotic look, but Shepard isn’t the only actor with his eye on playing the kingdom master. Hilarity ensued, and no doubt, had fans laughing out loud.
Dax Shepard has the acting chops for the job
The very funny Shepard has a flourishing career on television and in movies. You might recognize him for his roles in “The Ranch” or “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”
Fans are enamored with his public, and often hilarious, banter and antics with his starlet wife, Kristen Bell. Together, they have carved out their own fan base and recently shared of quarantine video of themselves discoursing marriage pet peeves.
The tweet that started it all
Shepard tweeted that Hollywood would be broken if he wasn’t chosen to cast as the controversial Joe Exotic in an eventual biopic. He then shared a doctored image of the wildly circulating “Tiger King” picture of Joe Exotic posing with a tiger. The doctoring instead dropped in Shepard’s face in place of the king’s face. And almost everyone immediately agreed it would be a shoo-in fit.
The Hollywood star that challenges Dax Shepard for the role
Banter begins when Edward Norton joins the conversation and challenges Shepard for the role. Norton replies, “Um, step aside pal” and reminds Shepard that he’s too young and buff to pull off a proper Joe Exotic portrayal.
Norton goes on to suggest that maybe Shepard would be better suited as Maldonado, referring to one of the tiger keeper’s many husbands. In response, Shepard shares smiling emojis when he says: “I’ll go “Machinist” [sic] for this.”
The reference to the movie “The Machinist” is an homage to Christian Bale’s role in the film that required him to lose a dangerous amount of weight.
There’s a new episode dropping
Fans of “Tiger King” are hungry for more, and there are rumors another episode, not originally shared as part of the seven-episode run, is coming. The docu-series, for those who aren’t familiar with it, is a true story of a man who calls himself Joe Exotic. He breeds tigers and runs a roadside animal park in Oklahoma but is soon amidst a firestorm of drama with his many husbands, a murder for hire charge, and a bitter rivalry with another tiger keeper, Carole Baskin.
You just can’t make up the weirdness and jaw-dropping story of Joe Exotic’s life as a tiger keeper. But all that bizarreness might be perfect for the big screen. If Hollywood decides to transition the “Tiger King” tale to film, Dax Shepard has dibs as first in line to play the man, the myth, the odd legend. Now, Edward Norton might challenge him, and fans might agree he’d be a great Joe Exotic too. But, for now, everyone will have to wait for a big-screen version.
Written by: Cheat
