EDITORIALS

Self-Described Failure Alec Baldwin Talks Career Highlights

by Ethan Anderton
December 16, 2009
Source: Wired

A little while back it was said that Alec Baldwin simply didn't have an interest in his craft anymore and would be retiring from acting when his award-winning bout on NBC's comedy series "30 Rock" ended, most likely around 2012. To make matters worse, Baldwin went even deeper and darker: "I consider my entire movie career a complete failure." Powerful, but sad words from a gifted actor. Some people have written this off as an empty promise, but when Baldwin sat down with Wired, he went through his career ups and downs and talked about how making terrible films has saved his career on many occasions. Read on!

Despite Baldwin's follies from losing the Jack Ryan franchise to Harrison Ford after The Hunt for Red October to appearances in less than stellar films like My Best Friend's Girl and The Cat in the Hat, it seems his failures ultimately ended up saving his career in another fashion. As far as his entire film career goes, Baldwin said, "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." But he feels there's been some redemption because of his success on "30 Rock." But before television came around for a pick-me-up, Baldwin had plenty of rises and falls as you can see in this great graph Wired put together:

Despite a classic and iconic (albeit brief) appearance in Glengarry Glen Ross, he fell slave to mercenary acting. Baldwin recalls, "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." This mentality is evident with appearances in films like The Getaway. But it was also this same practice that led him to a career saving realization.

A couple years ago Baldwin starred in My Best Friend's Girl which Baldwin said "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." I think we all realized it then too. Fortunately, Baldwin hasn't ruined his career, but it sounds like he's already got some ideas for a future after acting which includes writing another book (he published his first book, A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey Through Fatherhood and Divorce last year) and maybe even running for public office.

Of course, I think many of us are hoping that there's another career saver for Baldwin around the corner, and maybe he does, too. In fact Baldwin already knows what it is: "Another sitcom. Probably a sidekick role on Jack McBrayer's Kenneth spinoff. We're all going to be working for the '30 Rock' page." All right, well maybe something a little better than that I hope, and in film, please? What do you guys think about Baldwin's Career?

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