In a recent behind-the-scenes featurette for “Joe vs. Carole,” Kate McKinnon opened up about what initially drew her to the project and what it was about Carole Baskin that actually motivated her to accept the role in the Peacock series. “I listened to this podcast on Wondery. I thought, ‘That’s a kooky lady. She’d be fun to play.'” McKinnon said. “And then, as I did more research, I began to really admire her.”
The actor went on to say that she felt a desire to make people better understand who Baskin really is, including everything she’s accomplished and experienced throughout her life. “I really want people to see that she is a kick-ass businesswoman, a very passionate activist, and is a survivor,” McKinnon revealed.
Whether or not “Joe vs. Carole” successfully manages to do what McKinnon hopes it will is, of course, impossible to know for sure. However, the show’s creative team is clearly interested in exploring all the different sides of both Baskin and Exotic. “The writers have incorporated some flashbacks of the lives that [Joe and Carole] had before we meet them,” Kyle MacLachlan teases in the featurette, noting that he thinks the show’s exploration of Exotic and Baskin’s lives outside of their feud will “give the audience a greater understanding of why they do what they do.”
In other words, viewers shouldn’t go into “Joe vs. Carole” expecting to see McKinnon give an entirely comedic performance as Baskin. Instead, fans should be prepared to watch McKinnon conduct a much deeper exploration of the “Tiger King” figure than they may have expected to see in “Joe vs. Carole.”