David Spade On Playing ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic Against Brad Pitt: ‘A Funny Idea’

David Spade shared his thoughts on the possibility of playing Joe Exotic in the “Tiger King” movie adaptation instead of Brad Pitt.

In a virtual interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Spade opened up about Joseph Maldonado-Passage’s personal request to have him or Pitt play his character in a biopic. The “Grown Up” star finds it funny and joked about competing with the “Ad Astra” star.

“Joe Exotic said me or Brad Pitt and I think I know which way it’s gonna head. I see Brad at auditions all the time and it’s always tense,” he said.

“You know what Brad does? He brings his Oscar to auditions now, which I don’t think you’re allowed to do that in SAG.”

He added that the adaptation movie needed to be “more dramatic” to get the details right. For him, Pitt is not perfect for the role and said it is more fitting for him.

“I think Joe is a little too squirrelly for Brad. That might be wishful thinking, Brad is so studly and I’m a little more squirrelly,” he added.

Spade also suggested that Woody Harrelson would make a good Jeff Lowe.

“Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” is a seven-part true-crime docuseries which follows Joe Exotic as he gets entangled in a murder-for-hire plot due to his involvement in the underground world of breeding big cats.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Eric Goode, a New York City restaurateur and hotelier turned wildlife conservationist, and documentary filmmaker Rebecca Chaiklin had an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. It was in the interview when Chaiklin revealed that Joe Exotic’s preferred actor to play his character was either Pitt or Spade. She added that he refers to Spade as “Joe Dirt.”

When asked if Joe Exotic has already watched “Tiger King,” Chaiklin gave a negative answer. She added that he wants to be a star.

“He’s incarcerated and right now he’s been put into isolation for COVID-19, so he actually is not available. He’s been cut off from phones, but Joe is somebody who has always wanted to be a star, and so he’s very excited for this to have captured people’s attention the way it did, ” Chaiklin said.