Letters to the Editor
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Right on Stephanie.
I agree completely. Baldwin is one of America's finest actors. A real pleasure to watch.
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Old Man Dunphy
I completely agree about Baldwin's performance in Outside Providence, it's one of my favorites. He's certainly the best thing about the movie, although it does have its moments (Drugs's letter to Dunphy makes me laugh every time).
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Alec Baldwin
I couldn't agree more! I love Alec Baldwin in these amazing supporting roles. The Cooler is one you left out and may be his best ever performance as the old school mobster with a heart. His bizarre brothers, schitzo wife, weight gain- he seems to bring it all to every character he plays and I am eternally grateful.
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Alec the Great
Alec Baldwin is part of that cadre of great actors -- Peter O'Toole and Albert Finney among them -- who seem to have been liberated by unburdening themselves of physical beauty. Not that Baldwin is remotely bad-looking. He's just not pretty any longer, and boy does that become him.
As for being a reliably refreshing on-screen presence, the man is a veritable Joan Blondell.
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Thank you for bringing up one of my favourite subjects
I adore Alec Baldwin. I've always thought of him as an o.k. sort of actor, but then I started watching 30-Rock, and now I'm obsessed. Jack Donaghy is a class-A, 28 carat prick, but he's also gorgeous and funny as hell.
I've started to recall how good he was in Glengarry Glen Ross, and I'm thinking it's time for an Alec Baldwin film fest chez moi. Thanks for the reminder.
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Right on!
Only because I want Alec Baldwin to read this article and see that lots of people agree with you, Stephanie, I'm writing in, too.
You didn't mention so many more roles that show his range. Yes, Glengarry Glen Ross is brilliant, but there are so many other roles I've always loved watching him in: Married to the Mob, Beetlejuice, She's Having a Baby, Working Girl, Prelude to a Kiss, The Cooler, his narration in The Royal Tennenbaums (what would that film be without that great voice of his?!), even his great role in Friends as the super-enthusiastic guy! These may not always be great pictures, but Alec Baldwin is always fantastic in them. He never makes a wrong move, and how many actors with his range of roles can that be said about? Forget DeNiro or Pacino, Baldwin is the one with true range and consistency.
This is a guy who I'd stick around to watch the Irving Thalberg Award for if it's ever awarded to him.
Where's his AFI tribute, by the way???
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Him and Walken
Yup, he's one of the two remaining reasons I watch SNL from time to time. Just thinking of his Schwetty Balls and Walken's Cowbell floors me everytime.
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loved him since beetlejuice...
He's not only gorgeous and expressive of face, he's smart, funny, wise, and entirely hard to get a handle on.
I have no idea what he'd be like over dinner. I love that.
And the funniest thing he ever said on SNL was to Jan Hooks: "Shouldn't wear so much makeup. Makes you look cheap." His delivery? Brilliant.
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His best career move
was when he fucked up getting the role in the Hunt for Red October sequels. I don't think we'd have seen this body of work if he'd been trapped into playing that character.
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Glen Garry Glen Ross??
That was one of the few times - EVER - when I got genuinely pissed off at a character in a movie. Other times...well, I can only think of one: R. Lee Ermery in FULL METAL JACKET. I kept wanting one of those draftees to kick him in his fucking balls.
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Amen!
Stephanie, you are so right on about Baldwin! He has been underrated as an actor from way back, starting with his Oscar-worthy portrayal of a criminal head case in "Miami Blues." What a shame he basically has had to rely on his SNL appearances for major props. He deserves much better status!
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Great article!
If I may paraphrase-You showed some real initiation there!
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Love him
Thanks for the great article about my current favorite actor. His weekly visits to our home via 30 Rock have even won over my right wing husband! Also, check out his appearances on Letterman-they are just as funny and on the mark as his comedic acting.
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And nobody pulls off a tuxedo better.
For a minute there I was worried his work on 30 Rock was going to go unacknowledged. This is a great show that would still be good sans Baldwin, but take a conversation like this one:
Liz: Why are you wearing a tux?
Jack (nonplussed): It's after 8 o'clock - what am I, a farmer?
and try to imagine anyone else pulling off the delivery. Clearly he's one of the comedic fulcra of the show.
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About time.....
Baldwin is without question the one actor whose name should be prominently above the title of everything he's in - that way, I wouldn't miss any of his incredible work.
Does anyone know of any actor that can touch him in his ability to succeed at both drama AND comedy? I mean, as funny as he can be, he's a terrific dramatic actor as well - so good, you forget his hilarious comedic turns and believe his serious side. (Unlike, say, Jim Carrey, who you can never take seriously as an actor [and whom you cannot take at all anymore as a comedian]}
Is there anyone else like this guy?
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And it's not just the voice
He's got three brothers that we've all seen way too much of who have a similar, if not identical, voice. Billy, Stephen, and Daniel could never pull off his delivery and they all know it.
And I was just thinking: as proof of Alec's dependability, I could see him making any of their best roles work (Internal Affairs, Homicide: Life on the Streets...does Stephen have a best role??).
I remember seeing him on Dinner of Five with Jon Favreau once and, unlike many of the buddies or blowhards who show up on that show, Alec was all business. He doesn't seem to sit around and pine about how great he his or his "method." I love that we don't see a lot of TV/print interviews about him, other than his politics and his advocacy for father's rights in divorces. In other words, he appears to me to be the kind of guy who's found a job he's good at and enjoys doing, but doesn't need external adulation to keep doing it well. He's got a life and interests outside his job.