Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) will make his return to TV with the upcoming Peacock limited series Joe Exotic, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He will take on the role of big cat rescue sanctuary owner Carole Baskin’s supportive husband, Howard Baskin.
The limited series is expected to focus on Baskin, previously cast as Kate McKinnon (Ghostbusters), a big cat enthusiast who discovers that fellow exotic animal aficionado and Oklahoma zoo owner Joe “Exotic” Schreibvogel, cast as John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), is using his cats for profit. As shown in Netflix’s 2020 series Tiger King, Baskin then incites a dangerous rivalry with Exotic that subsequently leads to his prison sentence.
It should be noted that MacLachlan’s character is not Don Lewis, Baskin’s second spouse who vanished in 1997 and was declared dead in 2002 with speculation that his wife had killed him. Rather, he will play Howard Baskin, whom Baskin married in 2004 and still lives on. Joe Exotic is still a working title and does not appear to have an official premiere date just yet.
However, a full cast has been announced, including William Fichtner (Prison Break) as Rick Kirkham, Exotic’s reality show producer, Joel Marsh Garland (The Bounty Hunter) as James Garretson, a friend of Exotic’s, Dean Winters (Oz) as Jeff Lowe, Joe’s partner, and newcomer Lex Mayson Saff as an employee of Exotic.
MacLachlan is most well-known for his role in Showtime’s Twin Peaks 2017 reboot, alongside the CBS comedy Carol’s Second Act and the Norwegian series entitled Atlantic Crossing.