Many actors and comedians have taken on the task of impersonating President Donald Trump, one of the most notable being Alec Baldwin. The 61-year-old has been donning a blond wig and overly-tanned face to play the president for Saturday Night Live since the 2016 presidential election. Now, nearly three years later, he’s ready to retire the role.
The revelation came during a new interview with USA Today that was published on Thursday, June 6, in which the actor explained that he wasn’t particularly “invested” in his Emmy-winning Trump impersonation, and that it had never been a “career goal” of his.
“I had a lot of fun with [the cast], and when Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider wrote [Trump sketches in 2016 and 2017], that was new, it was fresh and the ratings were good. But I feel like I’m done with that now. I’m so done with that,” he said.
Baldwin continued, noting that he also doesn’t see himself reprising the role when the popular late-night sketch comedy show returns in the fall.
“I can’t imagine I would do it again. I just can’t. They should find somebody who wants to do it,” he said.
Aside from wanting to pass the role on to someone else, Baldwin also explained that after staying relatively free from work since the birth of his son, Romeo, with wife Hilaria Baldwin in May of 2018, he is jumping back into things and will be traveling more.
“Now weekends are going to become much more precious to me because that’s time with my kids,” he said.
. @AlecBaldwin wants someone else to step up and take on the part of #Trump on SNL https://t.co/CdiXSbiLtO pic.twitter.com/2XXdPMUS2q
— ET Canada (@ETCanada) June 7, 2019
As for who the actor thinks should replace his role as President Trump on Saturday Night Live , Alec had a few suggestions including Darrell Hammond, whom he praised as a “far better impressionist than I’ll ever be.”
The 30 Rock star also suggested Anthony Atamanuik, who impersonates Trump on Comedy Central’s The President Show.
Baldwin’s return to Saturday Night Live in the role of Donald Trump has certainly garnered attention, both positive and negative, with one of the most notorious critics of the impersonation, and the show as a whole, being the president himself.
“Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC!” he began a tweet in February when Baldwin returned to an episode to mock the president’s emergency declaration over border wall funding.
Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2019
As Fox News noted, he followed the message up with an all-caps post in which he included the comedy show as part of the “rigged and corrupt media” that he labeled “the enemy of the people.”