This interview contains discussion about sexual abuse.
If you’ve never been able to get quite enough of theTiger King, you’re in luck.
We had the opportunity to sit down with John Cameron Mitchell for an inside look at his new series.
I hadn’t really watched the whole series.
He had a lot of different accents and a lot of different voices for different environments.
He was a showman.
He was as much of an actor as I am.
We’re the same age.
We’re from the same part of the country.
We were always militantly openly gay when it wasn’t cool.
We had our self hatreds.
We worked through them.
He would do shows and zoos, and I would do plays and musicals and films.
They’re all groups of misfits that have a purpose.
Like I said, I’m from the same part of the country.
I actually was born in Texas.
I lived in Kansas near where he was born.
I [also] lived in Oklahoma, an hour away from where his zoo was.
That was before the zoo.
It was in the ’60s.
I have a lot of friends.
I know that part of the country.
I haven’t been there in a while, but I know it.
If I had stayed, I might be a little Joe-ish.
Have you gotten the chance to meet him?
No, because we you’re able to imagine.
He’s so manipulative that it’s not a good idea.
Joe versus Carole, whatever.
[Laughs] My response was a painted nails emoji.
I’m like, “Honey, girlfriend, you’re already there.”
I love her deeply.
We’ve become fast friends and will be working together in the future.
She’s extremely shy, where I’m more outgoing.
I’m an outgoing loner, let’s say, and she’s definitely more of a loner.
[She] would prefer to garden than go to a party.
We aren’t doing every twitch and everything that they do.
We are interpreting them.
We are maybe 50% them and the other 50% is our interpretation.
We’re not trying to do a “Saturday Night Live” thing.
I’m not gaining 40 pounds to [look like someone].
To me, that’s very That’s about the actor.
That’s about vanity.
“Look how interesting I am.”
What I hoped we did was to go into their emotions, to have some surface stuff.
They did the exact head nod."
Imagine what they might be like when they’re alone with their lovers, because we never saw that.
That we had a lot in common.
I grew up, like I said, in the same area.
At that time, there were three options for a gay man.
The third way is what he did, which is like, “F*** y’all.
I’m going to make my own safe place within the redneck country.
I’m going to make my zoo.
I’m going to make my pet shop.
All eight episodes of “Joe vs. Carole” are now streaming on Peacock.
