Nicolas Cage has been earmarked to play Joe Exotic in a new Tiger King series. Here is why he's absolutely perfect for the role.
After managing to squander $150 million in wealth, Nicolas Cage has found himself taking on some unusual roles. Tiger King is one of them. But it turns out he's the perfect man for the job. | Image: AP Photo, left, and Santa Rosa County Jail via AP
When I learned that Nicolas Cage is set to make his TV acting debut playing ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic, I didn’t even flinch.
Hey, it’s 2020. The year of absolute insanity. So, why not?
Sure, the Tiger king himself hilariously earmarked Brad Pitt for the role, while David Spade and Rob Lowe were seemingly in the running.
But Nicolas Cage?
While many fans of the Tiger King show scratch their heads at the idea of the worst method actor in Hollywood playing Joe Exotic, it actually makes sense.
For as crazy as Joe Exotic is, if he was a free man and able to cash in on his fame, he’d probably be Nicolas Cage.
Joe Exotic owned tigers? Nicolas Cage bought himself an octopus.
Over the years, Cage has managed to blow his $150 million fortune on absolute nonsense.
From buying haunted mansions and a private island to shrunken pygmy heads and a dinosaur skull, Nicolas Cage rewrote the book on earning millions of dollars and promptly losing it all.
Would the real Joe Exotic be any different if he were a free man today and able to cash in on his newfound fame? I don’t see many investment portfolios in his future!
Look at it this way. If the decision-makers had gone with someone like Rob Lowe to play our favorite gun-toting gay redneck, we’d have to make do with an actor trying to be Joe Exotic.
Why would we want that? We’ve all seen the Tiger King, we’ve already seen the best guy for the job play Joe Exotic!
Rob Lowe pretending to be Joe Exotic would have been a terrible letdown.
Nope, this isn’t a role for a method actor. It’s a role for the worst method actor in Hollywood today.
That’s right, Nicolas Cage doesn’t play characters. His movies consist of Nicolas Cage, the octopus, and shrunken-head buying maniac, falling into predicaments.
Con Air? A movie detailing what would happen if Nicolas Cage ever erroneously killed a drunken man, was sentenced to ten years in jail, and was sent to a supermax prison in a plane full of hardened criminals.
Face/Off? An insight into how life would play out for Nicolas Cage if he ever became a freelance terrorist and homicidal sociopath and was subjected to a face transplant.
The point is, Cage plays most of his roles in the same way. He injects the awesomeness that is Nicolas Cage into all of them. He doesn’t do characters.
For many younger fans, Nicolas Cage is an actor who’s movies fly straight to DVD. How many were old enough to enjoy the Con-Air experience? That was well over 20 years ago now, which is insane.
This Tiger King television show won’t give us a semi-recognizable actor trying to play Joe Exotic better than Joe Exotic himself did in the Netflix series.
That would end in disappointment. No one can play Joe Exotic better than Joe Exotic.
What we’re going to get is a world where Nicolas Cage is a gay, gun-toting redneck who runs for president and owns a bunch of tigers.
A whole new generation will have their eyes opened to the greatness of Nicolas Cage.
Now that is a television experience I can get behind.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
Last modified: September 23, 2020 1:54 PM
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