Joe vs. Carole star John Cameron Mitchell 'couldn't really bear' to watch Tiger King

John Cameron Mitchell discovered untapped empathy for Joe Exotic in the scripts of Joe vs. Carole, which he says is a far cry from Netflix's Tiger King docuseries.

"There's something about him that I actually couldn't really bear to watch the whole thing at first, because it was like, everyone's behaving so badly," Mitchell tells EW, adding that he preferred the the tale as told in the Wondery podcast Over My Dead Body, which the Peacock series — also starring Kate McKinnon — is based on. "The docuseries I found a bit sensational. It was certainly riveting, but it was docking. It wasn't trying to go deep."

Mitchell adds that viewers of Joe vs. Carole will not only get to know both titular characters "better," but will likely "sympathize" with both of them.

The Shrill actor submitted a self-tape — his first in 27 years, he says — to audition for Joe Exotic because "it was the first time I came across a role that looked really fun in a challenging and fun way."

Mitchell says that he "didn't really expect to get" the part at first, acknowledging that there may have been "a bit more pressure to favor, let's say, a gay actor playing a gay role."

"I appreciate that people are now feeling a bit more like, 'Okay, let's not just give these great gay roles to the most famous stars who tend to be straight' because most of the world is homophobic," Mitchell says.

As Mitchell delved into Joe Exotic's story, he came to understand the disgraced zookeeper. "He's trying to fit in, he's trying to create a sanctuary for not only his animals, but for all these broken people that come to work for him, including boyfriends. He definitely has to be the king of it, the king of them, which ends up becoming kind of destructive. But I understand it. I create my own sanctuaries with my movies and plays," says the actor, who once lived just an hour away from the notorious Oklahoma zoo. "Even though I had not much in common with him, I do relate to him."

At the heart of Mitchell's understanding of Exotic is the zookeeper's lust for fame.

"That's one of the last resorts for people who are not part of the mainstream," Mitchell says about those seeking the spotlight. "'I'll be famous, my mom will like me. I'll be famous, no one will beat me up. I'll be famous, I won't be poor.' That's one of the American dreams. Not mine, but I understand it."

Joe vs. Carole premieres March 3 on Peacock.

With reporting by Leah Greenblatt.

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