Kevin Bacon wants to play 'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic in a film.

Kevin Bacon

Kevin Bacon

The 'Footloose' star is the bookmakers' favourite to portray the eccentric zoo keeper on the potential big screen adaptation, which has been tipped following the success of Netflix documentary 'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem And Madness' and Kevin admits that he would love the job.

During an appearance on US chat show 'Today', he said: "I'd play Joe Exotic in a second."

Kevin admitted that he first thought about the role after his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, asked him whilst he was watching the documentary.

He recalled telling her: "This is an amazing show. I said, 'The reason that I'm watching this show is because these are the kind of characters I get asked to play.'

"This is my type of guy, you know, so listen, fingers crossed!"

The 61-year-old actor has even campaigned for the gig on Twitter, sharing a mocked-up photo of his face on Joe's body.

Kevin wrote: "I saw Tiger King, and now I bet you can't unseen this.

"Bacon Exotic might have a nice ring to it?"

A movie based on the documentary is said to be in the works, although Orlando Bloom is reportedly wanted to play Exotic, who is currently serving 22 years in prison for plotting to murder big cat sanctuary owner Carole Baskin.

An insider said: "All filming is on lockdown at the moment but the studios are exploring projects they can get going on as soon as possible and they think 'Tiger King' is the perfect story.

"Discussions about a movie have only just started but they believe the idea has legs, especially if they get a big star like Orlando on board.

"They think he could really bring Joe to life on screen."

Tagged in