Joe vs Carole, a scripted dramatization inspired by the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic: Tiger King hosted by Robert Moor, is premiering just over a week from now. In anticipation, Peacock has released a behind-the-scenes featurette titled "Joe Vs. Carole: Inside the Feud" that reveals some of the cast and crew members' views on the upcoming series and the well-known controversy it portrays.
The series provides a deeper dive into the lives of the two leading figures at the center of the extremely popular 2020 Netflix docuseries, Tiger King — animal activist and big cat enthusiast Carole Baskin and businessman and tiger enthusiast Joe "Exotic" Schreibvogel. In the behind-the-scenes video, John Cameron Mitchell, who portrays Exotic in the series, talks about how viewers will get to see another side of these two individuals, and the perspective, while realistic, is affected by a "heightened sense of comedy and tragedy." When watching the trailer for the series, one can get a feel that while striving for authenticity, the series is simultaneously made to entertain with its comedic elements and fervently dramatic moments.
It is almost common knowledge that Baskin and Exotic's conflict escalated to the point in which, as executive producer and writer Alex Katsnelson explains in the featurette, "one of them [wants] the other dead." This all happens as Baskin takes upon herself to try and shut down Exotic's breeding business, which creates bad blood between the two.
The featurette also reveals that Kate McKinnon, who plays Baskin, has been with the project since the early stages. McKinnon herself shares that she listened to the Joe Exotic: Tiger King podcast and that after doing more research, she has come to admire Baskin.
On the other hand, Mitchell reveals that he has more in common with Exotic than expected — naturally, since Tiger King doesn't exactly highlight the positives of Exotic's personality. Also, understandably, Mitchell had a more challenging time adapting to what he describes as the "vicious parts of Joe." Mitchell explains that he does not condone what Exotic did but understands his actions as the result of personal trauma. This past trauma is likely something the show will cover. Actor Kyle Maclachlan, who plays Howard Baskin, has said the show will incorporate flashback scenes to give the audience a deeper understanding of where these two people come from.
Joe VS Carole is written and executive produced by Etan Frankel, with McKinnon and Katsnelson also executive producing along with Wondery's Hernan Lopez, Marshall Lewy, and Aaron Hart.
All eight episodes of Joe vs Carole will be available for streaming on Peacock on March 3. You can watch the behind-the-scenes featurette and check out the new key art below.
