Alec Baldwin is no stranger to Saturday Night Live and its presidential impressions. In fact, he won an Emmy for his portrayal of Donald Trump. However, that does not mean he’s super comfortable doing them or other political impressions. Recently, he opened up about that and why he still gets “worried” about portraying people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the NBC show.
For the first time in a while, Baldwin returned to SNL during a few of its Season 50 episodes that aired on the 2024 TV schedule. In the sketches, rather than playing Trump (who James Austin Johnson now portrays), he appeared as Fox correspondent Bret Baier and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. When asked about returning to the show during a Q&A with Variety, the actor opened up about why he loves doing it as well as the challenges that come with it, explaining:
They are old friends of mine, dear friends of mine. When I did the show [in the past] and hosted it for a period of time I would always say, ‘God, wouldn’t it be great to be a member of the cast?’ And then I became a member of the cast when I did the Trump thing for four years. They are always calling me, and they are always calling me on a Saturday morning — I’m not kidding — and they are always saying, ‘What are you doing tonight?’ They call me and then they say, ‘Bret Baier,’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t know how to do that?’ But then they put the monster wig on me. He’s a very nice guy, by the way, I met him at a restaurant the other day. And then Bobby Kennedy, who was a friend of mine.
As Michael Keaton and Charli XCX hosted their episodes of SNL’s 50th Season, Baldwin was among the various high-profile guest stars to pop up in the presidential cold opens alongside Austin Johnson’s Trump. Before that, he appeared on the show fairly consistently to impersonate the president. In Seasons 42, 43, 44, 45 and 46 he showed up as him. Then, he took a three-season break.
During his tenure as SNL’s Trump impressionist, Baldwin was slammed by Trump himself and praised by others. In 2017, he won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his impression, and he was nominated for it in 2018 and 2021 as well. So, as you can see, the response to his performance runs the gamut.
However, doing impressions of folks involved in politics worries Baldwin. In the past, he’s said he was done playing Trump, citing his family and other projects as his reason. Now, in this latest interview, he explained why he can get “worried” about performing as someone like RFK, saying:
You know, in the cancel culture you get worried about doing something wrong. So where Bobby has the voice, which is obviously very raspy, I was afraid of doing too much of that because I would get condemned by people who have that condition. You are always mindful whatever you do in the United States these days, because you are going to get into trouble.
As this new presidential chapter begins, it will be interesting to see who Baldwin pops up to play, and how folks respond to it. He’s been doing this for a long time, and he knows the spectrum of responses SNL impressions get.
So, as Saturday Night Live continues airing, and Baldwin maybe keeps impersonating various figures involved in politics, we’ll keep you posted. To see his performance for yourself as well as new episodes of the sketch comedy show you can stream it with a Peacock subscription and watch new episodes live every Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC or the aforementioned streamer.
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Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite showsTed LassoandThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift toFire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.
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