Host of Tiger King Podcast Wants Margot Robbie to Play Joe Exotic: 'She Would Do a Great Job'
As interest surrounding the riveting demise of Joseph Maldonado-Passage (Joe Exotic) and the Netflix docuseries Tiger King increases, casting for the upcoming miniseries is slowly coming together and Margot Robbie is one of the celebrity names being talked about to play the former Oklahoma zookeeper.
Robert Moor, who hosts the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic — the miniseries that has been adapted from by Universal Content Productions — revealed the shocking idea of having Robbie play the big cat wrangler during Monday’s episode of Andy Cohen‘s SiriusXM show Radio Andy.
Moor explained to Cohen that he’s been quite involved in the miniseries and shared that “We’ve been talking over a lot of names” when it comes to who will play Maldonado-Passage.
“Names we were throwing around were like Sam Rockwell. My preferred casting — and this is a bit off the wall — would be Margot Robbie. I think Margot Robbie should play Joe in like a gender switch [thing],” Moor said.
While Cohen raved over the idea saying, “Wow!” he added “With all due to Joe Exotic … Margot Robbie ain’t ugly enough to play Joe.”
Moor quipped back saying, “Look at her eyes.”
“That’s the thing if you look at her eyes, she has these eyes that are just like Joe’s … I think she would do a great job with it,” Moor added.
A rep for the star did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
As for any other casting ideas, Moor said that he heard Talladega Nights star “John C. Reilly should play Doc Antle, I like that one a lot.”
Last week, it was revealed that Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon will be portraying Maldonado-Passage’s nemesis, Carole Baskin, according to Variety.
Moor’s podcast follows the two subjects who gained newfound interest with Netflix‘s trending docuseries. The stranger-than-fiction story — which chronicles the criminal spiral of the former Oklahoma zookeeper (Maldonado-Passage) convicted of concocting a murder-for-hire plot to kill his rival animal-rights activist (Baskin) — is still in development, according to TVLine, and currently has no network or streaming platform attached yet. Additional castings have also not been announced.
In the seven-part Tiger King Netflix doc, viewers learn more about Baskin (who runs an exotic big-cat sanctuary called Big Cat Rescue in Citrus Park, Florida) and her bitter rivalry with Maldonado-Passage (also known as “Joe Exotic”), the now-imprisoned founder of an exotic animal park in Oklahoma.
Matt Baron/Shutterstock Margot Robbie
Tiger King also covers the extreme measures Maldonado-Passage took to try to silence his rival — including his conviction for paying a hitman $3,000 to try to murder Baskin in November 2017.
The hit did not go through, and he is currently serving 22 years for the attempted murder plot.
Joe was also found guilty of killing tigers to make room for more big cats at his exotic animal park in Oklahoma.
Since the release of the docuseries, he has filed a federal lawsuit against various government agencies, as well as his former business partner. In his complaint, he is seeking $94 million in damages.
Joseph Maldonado-Passage
According to the lawsuit obtained by PEOPLE, the former zookeeper and country music singer claimed $73,840,000 is for loss of personal property; 18 years of research; and care of 200 generic tigers and cross-breeds for 365 days a year, at a boarding rate of $60 a day per animal.
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The additional $15 million is for false arrest, false imprisonment, selective enforcement and the death of his mother, Shirley.
The lawsuit, which was filed against the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and government agents, accuses them of violating his civil rights.
