Kate McKinnon has transformed into Carole Baskin for Peacock's 'Joe Exotic.'
Kate McKinnon has transformed into Carole Baskin for Peacock's Joe Exotic. The 37-year-old Saturday Night Live star was recently snapped for the first time in character while filming for the highly anticipated new series, looking very much like the big cat rights activist.
McKinnon rocked Baskin's long blonde hair and sported a similar fashion style. The new Peacock series is based off the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic, which first generated headlines about the self-proclaimed Tiger King, a gay polygamist roadside zoo owner. Exotic has been in constant battle with Baskin -- whom he's accused of feeding her missing husband, Don Lewis, to a tiger -- the founder of Big Cat Rescue, an animal sanctuary near Tampa, Florida, that houses and rehabilitates exotic cats. McKinnon is executive producing the series along with Wondery's Hernan Lopez, Marshall Lewy and Aaron Hart.
John Cameron Mitchell will play Exotic. ET spoke with him in May, and he talked about what viewers can expect from the series.
"Our adaptation is gonna be much more personal," he said. "You really get to see them in their lives, with their lovers, so you get more of the emotional, human side as well as the absurd, you know, American insanity that they represent."
Meanwhile, Baskin previously issued a statement to ET, asking McKinnon not to use live tigers or any real-life big cats while filming.
"Big Cat Rescue implores Kate McKinnon to not use real big cats and cubs in the making of her series," the statement reads. "The Wondery podcast, which is the basis for her series, explores the rampant breeding, abuse and exploitation of big cats by breeder and exhibitor Joe Exotic. It would be cruel to use real big cats in a television series about cruelty to big cats."
"We urge McKinnon to utilize computer-generated imagery (CGI) of cats in the show rather than forcing real big cats to suffer just to entertain the audience," her statement continued. "We hope McKinnon has a passion for animals and that her series will focus on the horrible lives captive big cats lead when exploited by breeders like Joe Exotic. We further hope she urges the public to support the Big Cat Public Safety Act that would end the cub petting abuse in America."
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