Stay in the Game: The Fall and Rise of Alec Baldwin
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By Scott Brown
- December 15, 2009 |
- 7:40 pm |
- Wired Jan 2010
Photo: Terry Richardson
Celebrities tend to be endlessly, tediously positive: Every day is a Gift, every project a Personal Best, and every costar a Genius. Alec Baldwin is not afflicted with this syndrome. At 51, he’s a failure, self-described. He’s also at the peak of his career, a peak he reached by scaling a K2 of catastrophe, personal and professional.
You see, two decades of relentless mistakes have earned him multiple Emmys, Tony and Oscar nominations, and a much-anticipated gig cohosting the Academy Awards with Steve Martin — a lifetime of stutter-stop achievement Baldwin calls “all this other bullshit.” None of it mitigates his sense of having fallen short of triumph. But the star of 30 Rock (and the new rom-com It’s Complicated with Meryl Streep) is OK with that. In fact, he’s thrilled. That’s because each Baldwin Fail — beginning in 1991 with the loss of the Jack Ryan franchise to Harrison Ford, which sank a promising career as a leading man — seems to have spurred a Baldwin Save. In that spirit, Baldwin ushers Wired through his greatest flops, leading by example on how to fail, fail again, and fail better next time.
The Fail
My entire film career.
I made films from about ‘86 until ‘99. And then things started to really wind down. When your fortunes ebb in the movie business, it’s like The Sixth Sense: You’re dead and you don’t know it.
The Save
My television career.
30 Rock doesn’t have the biggest audience, but we have an audience. And my God, what a difference it makes. I walk down the street all day long and people tell me how much they love the show. Not that I need to wake up every day and have every bird in the trees and every horse riding along the bridle path wink at me and say, “Oh, Alec, I loved 30 Rock last night!” But it’s nice.
The Fail
Mercenary acting.
I needed to make a living. People don’t realize actors are like plumbers. When you invite a plumber to your house and say, “I want you to put this sink in my bathroom,” the plumber doesn’t say, “I’m not going to install that sink, it’s hideous. You have the worst taste in sinks!” No, he just says, “OK,” and he puts it in.
The Save
Making a terrible romantic comedy.
My Best Friend’s Girl had one of the worst scripts I’ve ever read in my life. The movie was a huge disaster. Scathing reviews. And I realized: I’m done with doing it for the money.
The Fail
My personal life.
I mean, I’m divorced. I was married to someone [actress Kim Basinger]. I got very Zen about it. It doesn’t really matter who’s to blame. But in many ways my marriage mirrors my experience in the film business. I think to myself, How many years do I have left? What’s out there that I want to enjoy?
The Save
A very productive midlife crisis.
I had the realization: God, I’m 51 years old and I spent 30 years of my life doing things I didn’t want to do. The things you do to please other people! I said to myself, Well now I’m just going to have a good time. That was the most freeing thing. For the first time, I wanted to do whatever I felt like that day. I wrote a book, A Promise to Ourselves, this critique of the family law system. I want to write more books. I want to go back to school. I might even run for public office.
The Fail
A run for public office.
I will try to sell the American public on this idea: Sacrifice more! Make do with less! For the good of the country! I’ll run for office, and I’ll go out there and bomb.
The (Likely) Save
Another sitcom.
Another sitcom. Probably a sidekick role on Jack McBrayer’s Kenneth spinoff. We’re all going to be working for the 30 Rock page.
The Alec Baldwin Career Graph
Overcoming failure again and again and again…
Grooming by Richard Esposito and Stacey Panepinto; set design by Andy Harman/Wall Group; Interviewed at Public in the Monday room in New York City
Alec Baldwin’s character on 30 Rock is hysterical and my favorite of the show. Best line ever:
Liz Lemon: “Why are you wearing a tuxedo?”
Jack: “It’s after 6 o’clock. What am I, a farmer?”
I also really liked him in “The Departed” and “The Aviator”. I know he was supporting, but he is a great actor and made the films even better.
I didn’t see his bombs so I guess I’m biased..haha
“I’ll run for office, and I’ll go out there and bomb.”
Better … don’t run and save both of us the pain. One less ill-mannered and self-absorbed individual in the race, please.
Favorite Baldwin moment from SNL skit - “Yuh shouldn’t give yer pie away! Makes yuh look cheap!”
Hilarious analysis with the graph of success to time ratio…
Why they went with Ford over him, I’ll never understand. My guess: better agent, not better acting.
Wow he didn’t even mention starring in the first Thomas The Tank Engine movie ….
Alec, I’ll say this; you’re a douche when it comes to political opinion or understanding the importance of the founding documents of this country. But there’s nothing I enjoy more than watching you act, even in the bad stuff. And I think something you missed in your peaks and valleys is that you had a lot of SNL appearances in there and each one put you right back on top. You’re probably the best SNL host that ever lived.
But stay out of politics. Please.
Baldwin is quite excellent on 30 Rock. Just about the only show I follow regularly and his character is great.
I heard he’s a total asshole, just say in.
The last thing I think of when Alec Baldwin comes to mind is failure. Regardless of past failures (or successes), he is doing a damn good job in 30 Rock. If you haven’t seen it, I would highly recommend. Me and my girlfriend have been working our way through all 4 seasons and have been cracking up the entire time. Oh, and one more thing, the whole “People don’t realize actors are like plumbers…” quote, yes we realize this. I see a horrible movie with a celebrity in it and I say to myself wow, s/he must need some cash.
He’s hysterical on “30 Rock”, but who can forget him on SNL?? C’mon! “The Delicious Dish” NPR radio skits still have me crying, when was Albert Schwetty, and his dishes were “Schwetty Balls” and “Schwetty Weiners”. Oh! And “Canteen Boy” with Sandler? LMAO funny. Forget drama, stick with comedy, Mr. Baldwin.
Alec has always been a success and its It always a pleasure to watch his work. A great entertainer! Glad he’s in this world and chose to be an entertainer for work. On a personal note, I remember as if it was yesterday when I met Alec & Kim while sitting behind them in a packed theater in Woodland Hills watching “Fair Game” starring his brother William and Cindy Crawford. It was a pleasure to meet them.
The getaway is actual a decent film
really like the plumber reference. nice analogy alec!
Harrison Ford is a good actor, but it has come down to him playing himself in every film. I think Baldwin was a much better Jack Ryan. He matched what I “saw” when I read the books. Harrison Ford? Not so much.
Alec Baldwin is one of the few actors I still enjoy just as much even while hating their politics. Hopefully, he is not as mean as those leaked tapes during his divorce made him out to be. I have never considered him a failure, but a successful actor. Interesting article to see how he keeps plugging away.
Please do yourself a favor and just listen to the voiceover talents of this legend. It exudes authority.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL_p_1Us1JM
I thought he was a jerk when he claimed he would leave the US if Bush won. BUT, I think he’s actually really funny and my allegiance to major political parties is on the wane.
I think Alec Baldwin is a lot like Shatner. Both have had notable successes and failures, but both are experts at reinventing themselves. Perhaps best of all, both are not afraid to make light of themselves, while still maintaining a pretty solid ego.
I respect Baldwin’s decision - if he sticks with it - to quit acting in a year or two; however, on a purely selfish level I will miss seeing him perform.
By far his best movie was Outside Providence!
Also his part in SNL skit “Red Ships of Spain,” was pretty good. Well pretty bad, but good.
I’m kind of surprised there’s no mention of the voicemail to his daughter that was leaked to the media. That would seem like a big-time low point to me. Sadly for him, that voicemail changed the way I and probably a lot of others view him on-screen.
Let’s not forget his Leonardo Leonardo on the Clerks cartoon.
Everything he is or does is tainted by this. Politics? Really?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgj6NEk9xEw