Alec Baldwin recently sat down with Morley Safer of CBS investigative news program 60 Minutes. The taped segment will air this Sunday evening and based on the topics being discussed, it sounds like it might be worth viewing. Baldwin, who currently plays the role of Jack Donaghy in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, recently turned 50 and had a good deal to share with Morley about his baggage and his aspirations.
The eldest and most famous of the Baldwin brothers has enjoyed a successful career in movies and TV, and has hosted SNL on numerous occasions. Baldwin came under a good deal of media scrutiny over his nasty divorce from actress Kim Basinger. The joint custody arrangement of the couple’s daughter Ireland, who is 12 years old, has also been messy and has necessitated multiple trips back to court. A gag order is in place, which prevents Basinger and Baldwin from openly bashing each other but the tabloids have had a field day with the ‘he said-she said’ drama.
A year ago a new firestorm erupted when a cellphone message left by Baldwin on his daughter’s cellphone was leaked to the press. In a fit of anger, the actor called his daughter a “thoughtless little pig.” Baldwin reportedly told Safer:
If you go through the things I have gone through with the media like this thing with my daughter, there’s only one thing that comes to mind initially: that is how my daughter must have felt to have this played out in public. The second thing I realize is: you can pretty much bet all you own that I would never leave another voicemail message for my daughter that wasn’t just like something out of a Rodgers and Hammerstein score.”
Baldwin apparently gets a few licks in on his ex wife, and especially her lawyer, calling him a “300-pound, homunculus (Latin for little man – we looked it up) with a face like a clenched fist.”
The kicker is that the actor has political aspirations. He says it is something he might do one day. Thinking back on successful actors who have thrown their hat into the political ring, we recall Sonny Bono, former musician who got into the restaurant business and later served as mayor of Palm Spring. That stint was followed by his election to the U.S. House of Representatives. He died in a tragic Colorado skiing accident. Another popular mayor was actor Clint Eastwood, who did a stint as the mayor of Carmel, California and left it at that.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is the current governor of California and would undoubtedly have presidential aspirations if he were a U.S. born citizen. If that requirement ever changes, look for him to plunge head first into that arena. Jesse Ventura, pro wrestler and actor, was a one term governor of Minnesota, labeled ‘governor goofy’ by the media. The most successful leap was that of Ronald Reagan, who became the 33rd governor of California and then served as 40th President of the United States.
Baldwin seems to have a short fuse which might make politics a little dicey but he seems to continue plodding along quite successfully despite his occasional rants. He’s getting quite good at begging forgiveness.
Check out Reagan, Bono, Ventura, Schwarzenegger, Eastwood below.