Jimmy Fallon imagines Nicolas Cage playing Tiger King Joe Exotic in a hilarious new video. Released earlier this year on Netflix, Tiger King told the bizarre and sometimes disturbing story of Oklahoma zoo proprietor, would-be politician and convicted felon Exotic (who was originally known as Joseph Allen Schreibvogel) and his on-going very ugly rivalry with Florida big cat sanctuary owner Carole Baskin. The show went on to become a huge hit for the streamer, surpassing all their other series except Stranger Things season 3.

Thanks to the wildly popular Tiger King, quirky and seemingly egomaniacal main figure Exotic became an unlikely pop culture phenomenon, and Hollywood stars from Dax Shepard to Edward Norton began lobbying to play him in the inevitable fictional version of the story. Fans too chimed in on their picks to play the eccentric Exotic, with Danny McBride, David Spade and Sam Rockwell topping the list. But recently, those other actors all received bad news when it was revealed that Cage had won the coveted role of Exotic in the just-announced forthcoming scripted series from American Vandal creator Dan Lagana.

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Cage of course is well-known for not only playing oddball characters but being a major oddball himself, which makes his casting as Exotic seem utterly perfect. Just how perfect that casting is was demonstrated by Fallon in a bit on The Tonight Show when he donned Exotic’s trademark mullet and imagined how Cage might tackle the character. See the video in the space below:

The above bit not only gives Fallon a chance to show off his always sharp impersonation skills, it’s also a perfect sketch for quarantine programming because all that’s required is a camera, a simple Joe Exotic costume and the performer. If Fallon were only doing an impersonation of Exotic with all his well-known quirks it might already be hilarious, but the added dimension of Cage playing Exotic takes it to another level of inspired weirdness. The bit then takes off into the outright surreal when Fallon as Cage lampoons Exotic's insane music videos.

Of course, when Cage himself actually dons the Exotic mullet it’s bound to be even more bizarre than Fallon’s impersonation. Cage has always been a very broad performer, going all the way back to movies like Moonstruck and Raising Arizona, with a stated love for silent movie style Expressionistic acting. But in recent years he’s seemed to go even more off-the-rails, giving notably crazed performances in everything from the surrealistic horror film Mandy to the recent Lovecraft adaptation The Color Out of Space.

When Cage plays Exotic in the new limited series, it will actually mark the actor's first foray into television, opening up a whole new world of possibilities for him. After Fallon’s little taste of what Cage has in store for the world when he becomes the Tiger King, audiences have even more reason to be excited about what will happen when the Oscar-winner sinks his teeth into arguably his juiciest role ever.

More: Tiger King: 10 Carol Baskin Facts The Show Left Out

Source: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon