Alec Baldwin On Men, Love, & His Bible-Thumping Brother
March 14, 2008
The eldest and most successful Baldwin brother,
highly respected for his New York stage work and
prolific film career (I’m still partial to
Working Girl and Beetlejuice), Alec garnered a
Golden Globe for his role as Republican network exec
Jack Donaghy on NBC’s 30 Rock, which as of
press time was on hiatus due to the writers
strike. With no time to touch on his Emmy-nominated
guest arc on Will & Grace or the many gay
characters he’s played as host of Saturday
Night Live (“Canteen Boy, have you ever had a
mimosa?”), the 49-year-old Oscar nominee
and I dredged up his own controversial “Drudge
report,” mourned the loss of Halston, and
looked back at the men he’s
loved.
When I interviewed your brother William for The
Advocate on his Dirty Sexy Money role, I asked him
who’d get the hottest guys if the Baldwin
brothers were gay. He replied, “Me, because
I’ve always gotten the hottest
chicks.” How do you respond?
Well, you know,
Billy’s been in L.A. and out in the sun too long, so
we have to allow that he’s lost touch with
reality. Billy certainly has his following now from
his show, but I’ve had my gay following for a long
time. Billy didn’t have a book written about him.
Someone told me
about it, and I thought it was really funny. And the guy
who wrote the book sent me a copy, but no, I never read it.
I really
don’t know, because I remember when I grew up — and
this is on a serious, sad note here — there was only
one guy in my town that I knew of who was gay, and no
one even really knew what that was. I don’t even
remember that even being discussed when I was a kid. Then we
found out this kid who had killed himself was gay, and
he was my friend in high school. He was a lovely guy.
That, for me, was the beginning of understanding what
life was like for people who lived a gay life, but it
really became clear when I got into show business. I did a
soap [The Doctors, 1980–82], and David
O’Brien, who played my father, was gay. David
was my dear, dear, dear friend, and I was going with him and
his friends to Ambrosia and Rounds and the Mayfair
over on First Avenue—I lived at 58th and First,
so this was like upscale-gay central. I mean, this was
no Boots and Saddle, the Anvil, Crisco Disco, or any of that
militant, leather gay. These guys were bankers, insurance
executives—this was rich gay. Men who were gay
like ’50s gay — they kept it quiet, they went
to private clubs, and when they went out in the street they
didn’t want anybody to know their private lives
at all. I was hanging out with these guys, having
dinner with them a couple of nights a week, and it was
just the most amazing experience I’d ever had in my
life.
Oh, yeah, they
loved it. These guys either had long-term partners, or it
was about hustlers for them.
Probably Scott
Ellis, [the associate artistic director] of the Roundabout
that I did [Entertaining Mr.] Sloane with, and his
boyfriend, Jeff Mahshie, who’s a clothing
designer. But I have so many friends that are gay. If
you’re in this business, it seems like half of them
are — maybe more.
A few years ago you were set to star in the
long-delayed biopic Simply Halston as fashion designer
Roy Halston, which would have been your first gay
film role.
They decided to
do that with somebody else, and it ultimately made sense,
because it’s impossible to take an older actor and
make him look younger with makeup and so forth. When
you have an age range in a character, most directors
know the secret is to take someone young so that you can age
them. It disappointed me because I was completely in love
with the script. I was dying to do it. It was a great
challenge for me.
Famous faces: Baldwin, daughter back on good terms
March 14, 2008
TMZ and the Daily Mail report Alec Baldwin and his daughter Ireland, 12, have reconciled. We know this because a paparazzo photographed a beaming Ireland sitting next to her dad in a car.
Baldwin shocked parents around the world in April when an angry, insulting voice mail he had left his then-11-year-old daughter was leaked on the Net. Baldwin was peeved that Ireland did not answer the phone. “You answer or you get hit with a brick,” he said during the two-minute harangue, in which he called her a “rude pig.”
Jamie Lynn Spears focusing on studies
Jamie Lynn Spears has passed her GED high school equivalency exam. According to an anonymous source, Britney’s lil’ sis might even take the ACT college entrance test. Jamie Lynn did especially well in reading comprehension.
“People don’t know her. When she gets something in her head, she’ll make it happen,” the source said.
Cuban writer wins top literary prize
Cuban writer Antonio Orlando Rodriguez is the winner of this year’s Alfaguara Spanish literary prize for his novel Chiquita. The award, which includes a prize of $175,000, is one of the most prestigious in the Spanish language.
A total of 511 works were considered, the Alfaguara publishing house, which organizes the prize, said Monday. Rodriguez, born in Ciego de Avila, Cuba, lives in the U.S.
Alec Baldwin, Bonnie Comley, Renée Fleming, and Stewart F. Lane will be honored by The Actors Fund at its 2008 Gala on Monday, May 5.
Baldwin will be receiving the Nedda Harrigan Logan Award in recognition of his extraordinary commitment to all who work in the entertainment community and his ongoing arts advocacy efforts. International opera sensation Fleming will be receiving the Lee Strasberg Artistic Achievement Award, presented annually to an outstanding member of the performing arts community. Tony Award-winning Broadway producers and theater owners Lane and Comley will be receiving The Actors Fund Medal of Honor, given to individuals and organizations that significantly enrich the entertainment community.
For more information or to reserve tickets, call 212-763-8597 or visit www.actorsfund.org.
The Actors Fund of America will present its annual gala May 5 in New York City.
The evening will honor four individuals, whose combined careers “represent the diversity and range of the entertainment industry,” according to press notes. Award recipients will include stage and screen star Alec Baldwin, opera singer Ren?e Fleming and Tony-winning Broadway producers and theatre owners Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley.
Baldwin will receive the Nedda Harrigan Logan Award “in recognition of his extraordinary commitment to all who work in the entertainment community and his ongoing arts advocacy efforts.” Fleming will be presented with the Lee Strasberg Artistic Achievement Award, which is given to “an outstanding member of the performing arts community.” And, Lane and Comley will receive the Actors Fund Medal of Honor, given to “individuals and organizations that significantly enrich the entertainment community.”
The Actors Fund, which was founded in 1882, is a non-profit organization that provides for the social welfare of all entertainment professionals. Some of the many programs The Actors Fund provides include a nursing home and assisted living care facility; senior and disabled programs; mental health services; chemical dependency services; entertainment industry assistance programs; the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative; the AIDS Initiative; and supportive housing on both coasts.
For more information or to reserve tickets to the 2008 Actors Fund Gala, call (212) 763-8597 or visit www.actorsfund.org.
Alec Baldwin Slams Brother's Anti-Gay Marriage Comments
March 13, 2008
Alec Baldwin has slammed his own brother in a letter to a popular U.S. gay publication.
The Cooler star took offence to comments born-again Christian Stephen Baldwin made about same-sex marriage on Howard Stern’s radio show.
He told the U.S. shock jock: “I don’t believe that gay marriage is in line with God’s word, which is found in the Bible… and the Bible says that gay marriage is not acceptable."
Alec has now made it clear that he doesn’t share his sibling’s condemnation of homosexual marriage.
In a letter to gay magazine The Advocate, he writes, "People like that…they want to ban gay marriage because those people are incapable of having a biological family – that’s their only argument.
"You can ban gay marriage, but if you’re going to make it fair, then you have to ban marriage for everybody else who won’t produce children. But they just single out groups of people that they hate."
Baldwin's battle over politics
March 2, 2008
Alec Baldwin and his acting brothers regularly come to blows over their political beliefs – because they’re all passionate Republicans and Democrats.Alec and brother William are both fervent Democrats, while youngest Baldwin Stephen, a born-again Christian, is a die-hard Republican.And Stephen, who is backing evangelical Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee in the ongoing US race for the White House, says: “Alec said to me recently, `My youngest brother, a Christian conservative Republican. My God, how did that happen?’”But he’s pretty cool with me. I’m the youngest. Sometimes I’m just a dummy or an idiot in his mind about everything. But he still loves me.”William, though, we can sometimes mix it up (fight) a bit.”
Ageing Tina and Alec skip publicity
March 1, 2008
30 Rock’s Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin have revealed their reluctance at being cover stars.
“I got older,” Alec, 49, said in the latest issue of Gotham.
“The industry now is largely about young people, sometimes very young people. Kids in movies have all kinds of marketing potential. Then it’s actors of the Zach Braff/Jessica Alba stripe, the 30-and-under people.”
Tina, 37, agreed, saying: “I’m really getting old. In the 21st century, there’s an expectation for every person in every job in every industry to ‘bring it’ like they’re a fashion model. I think TV has conditioned our brains to see fake teeth, fake tans and fake lips, so when you see a normal person, you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s disappointing’.”
She added: “I think in that way I’m probably always disappointing, with my crooked teeth and thin lips.”
Alec admitted finding suitable roles for his age can often be difficult too.
“The issue is competing to get good roles. If you look at the number of films that star people over 40, there seem to be a lot less of them now,” he said.
“Dustin Hoffman said something great to me once: ‘We’re all in line. Some of us are just in a shorter line’. And that’s really very true.”
I Heart Tap Water Contest Brings Out Wisdom In Alec BaldwinFiled under: campaigns, contests, food & drink, green and famous, thegreenpicture — parrish @ 2:04 pm
Can I tell you something? I don’t drink tap water. Oh God, does this make me totally unqualified to write for Ecorazzi? In fact, I am a total bottled water snob! And even though people tell me New York tap water is clean, I still avoid it like the plague. ? But it??™s Valentine’s Day, a day for love, and so perhaps I will follow the crowd of students who are all yelling at me to declare my love for the natural stuff and take a swig of the old faucet? juice.
Yes friends, today on Valentine’s Day, students from across the country are declaring their love for tap water in the celebrity-judged I Heart Tap Water student video contest. The I Heart Tap Water contest asks students to make a one to two minute video which should include these three important parts:? a declaration of love for tap water, some discussion about bottled water consumption, and why the student’s college or university should break the bottled water habit.
Celebrity judge, Alec Baldwin has said “Bottled water is not as environmentally friendly as people think it is.” Wait a tick, who thinks bottle water is eco-friendly? Yes, I drink it, but I know it??™s not environmentally responsible and thus flog myself for it in private. ? Alec, I think you??™re awesome, but your insight lacks insight.
So practice what I preach and not what I do by getting involved with the? I Heart Tap Water contest. Submissions will be accepted until Monday, April 14th, and the winner of the contest will be announced on Earth Day, April 22nd. For more information and contest rules, drink your way over to takebackthetap.org.
On a side note: Happy Valentine’s Day Ecorazzi readers??¦let??™s go steady!
Baldwin brothers are taking over TV
February 29, 2008
The Baldwins aren’t coming. They’re here.
Over the past few years, the quartet of movie-star brothers has worked its way from the big screen into your living room. With Alec and William Baldwin already appearing regularly on network shows, Stephen and Daniel have joined up in recent weeks with roles on “Celebrity Apprentice” and “Celebrity Rehab,” respectively. If that doesn’t make you love reality TV, nothing will.
But it all begs the question: How many Baldwins are too many Baldwins? And what it is about TV today that ensures a place for every Baldwin?
This, of course, isn’t the first time the Baldwins have made their way onto television. Alec’s career began in earnest with a spot as a crazy preacher on “Knots Landing,” while Daniel’s most notable career role was a two-year stint on the critically adored “Homicide: Life on the Street.”
But the recent influx of Baldwins on TV ??” and the fact that they’re all on active shows at the same time ??” is notable.
It started, as most Baldwin movements do, with big brother Alec turning heads two years ago by taking a regular part on the NBC sitcom “30 Rock” as Jack Donaghy, the fictional GE vice president of East Coast television programming and microwave ovens. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC Universal.) Critics were in such amazement at his taking a TV job that one of their first questions to “30 Rock” creator Tina Fey upon the show’s introduction was, “Will Alec Baldwin be on every show?”
He’s not only on every episode, but the notoriously liberal Baldwin gets to flex his comedy muscles while playing a staunchly conservative New York Republican who brings a photo of Ronald Reagan to his barber for reference purposes.
In typical Alec fashion, he tested the waters of the current TV world, gained critical acclaim, won a Golden Globe, was nominated for an Emmy and told his brothers to come on in.
William arrived this fall on TV’s juiciest new drama, ABC’s “Dirty Sexy Money,” which follows a rich New York family of five siblings and the kind of shenanigans that come along with extreme wealth and public exposure.
William, who once worked for a New York congressman in D.C., plays New York’s attorney general. He??™s a married man who’s looking to make a run for a Senate seat, but has a transsexual girlfriend, which might throw a wrench into those plans. It’s a part that benefits from the cool and panicked touches that a Baldwin can deliver, and William could soon find himself on award ballots for it.
But that brings us to the lesser-known brothers, who’ve benefited from desperation on a couple of different levels. Stephen Baldwin was in the right place at the time when the floundering “Apprentice” franchise decided to try a celebrity edition.
At the same time, Daniel joined seven other fallen stars on VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.” Both are admirable, if surprising, ventures that could yield positive results in many ways.
Stephen, the youngest member of the Baldwin clan, is best known for his roles in “The Usual Suspects” and, of course, “Bio-Dome.” He previously appeared on “Fear Factor” and, you’re forgiven if you’d forgotten about this one, “Celebrity Mole.” The initial shots at career re-invigoration via reality TV apparently didn’t take, and he’s now playing “Celebrity Apprentice” with 13 other celebrities ??” and former “Apprentice” contestant Omarosa Manigault Stallworth.
Stephen has already done some good on the show. As team leader during the first episode, he guided his team to victory in the first challenge put forth by Donald Trump: selling hot dogs in Manhattan. For the victory, Stephen received nearly $70,000 (the total amount of money earned by both teams in hot dog sales) for his charity, The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, and his mother appeared to accept the donation.
Last week, Alec made a cameo on “Celebrity Apprentice” to buy some printers for $1,000 each from his baby brother and bring a little star power to a Kodak printer display the team had set up on a New York sidewalk.
“It was very good to have Alec Baldwin there because, actually, it showed everyone what a real Baldwin is,” said ???America’s Got Talent” judge Piers Morgan, who is Stephen’s teammate, even though they have a brewing rivalry. “Because, choice: Alec Baldwin, massive TV star; Stephen Baldwin … ?”
The stakes are more than fun and games for Daniel Baldwin, who’s had a rough go of it since appearing on VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club” in 2005. Baldwin’s widely reported problems apparently stem from a cocaine addiction he once told People magazine he’s been fighting since 1989. In late 2006, Baldwin was arrested for stealing a friend’s SUV, which resulted in a famously embarrassing mug shot that was featured in the series premiere of “Celebrity Rehab.”
Baldwin, who said in the premiere that he’s been sober since November 2006, is participating in the rehab program (that’s being documented for the series) in order to maintain his sobriety, which he says is a constant struggle. As a longtime addict who seems to be on a genuine quest for sobriety, Baldwin looks to play a key role as he doles out advice to the other celebrity addicts in what turns out to be a genuinely captivating hour of television every Thursday.
The Baldwin crew has overtaken practically every aspect of television ??” the sitcom, the drama, the reality competition and the voyeur reality show. Alec might even have a future as a talk-show host, as he’s scheduled to interview Gene Wilder on TCM’s “Role Model: Gene Wilder” on April 15. All that remains is for mom Carol to start hosting a cooking show on The Food Network.
But as each of them fills his role so effectively across the spectrum of genres television has to offer, it turns out that TV is big and diverse enough to accommodate every Baldwin that comes our way.
And anyway, can you really ever have too many Baldwins?
Victor Balta lives in Philadelphia and is a regular contributor to msnbc.com.
Blogger Extraordinaire Alec Baldwin Fights Greedy Studios, Racist …
February 28, 2008
As you may have learned from the voicemail he left for his daughter, Alec Baldwin has mad yelling skills. So count him as the ringleader of Hamptons residents calling for the ouster of the Independent Newspaper Group editor Rick Murphy. Baldwin has been blogging about his feelings, but now he’s kicked it up a notch: He’s supporting public forums on the matter. Public! Forums!
Along with 60 other East End residents who held a town hall meeting over the weekend, Baldwin wants publisher Jerry Della Femina to get rid of the man behind that racist Barack Obama column, written by “Yo Mama Bin Barack,” in the Hamptons Independent.
But he won’t side with those who’ve been calling for a boycott of the newspaper, since that would hurt the families of innocent employees, when it’s only Murphy who deserves punishment.
Funny, then, that Baldwin didn’t mind hurting the TV-watching families of innocent Americans when he sided with the Writers Guild. Snap!
