LOS ANGELES, Nov 9 — Alec Baldwin shared some great insight into his Saturday Night Live Donald Trump impression yesterday.
The actor has been getting rave reviews for the impression, which he has been doing for the past few weeks, taking over the Trump character from former cast member and current SNL announcer Darrell Hammond.
Yesterday, Election Day, Baldwin opened up on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show about getting the character right and how he got the gig.
“I don’t hate Trump, but he’s not somebody I admire,” Baldwin said, adding that he put a great deal of time into getting the character down. “You just watch him and try to see him, like a caricaturist who draws. This is an exaggeration. I almost sprained my jaw pushing my lower jaw forward to talk the way he does.”
SNL creator Lorne Michaels sought Baldwin out for the part at the behest of former head writer and 30 Rock star Tina Fey, Baldwin said.
“They knew where they were headed with election coverage with it being as close as it was and all,” he said. “When [Michaels] asked me, I said no. I thought, I don’t want do that. I don’t think I can. But you get lucky, and I think people were ready to take in that version of him, which is so aggressive.”
Baldwin also shared his bafflement over the actual Trump’s White House run.
“The Apprentice was a huge success, and Trump was a huge television star who managed to trick people into thinking he was the guy from the show,” Baldwin said. “So that to me was the miracle of this candidacy, that he was able to fake everyone out into believing that he really is that guy from The Apprentice.”
Baldwin was also very complimentary of his other half in the SNL election segments, Kate McKinnon, who portrays Hillary Clinton
“One of my greatest joys is that I got to do it with Kate,” he said. “She is just this staggering talented woman. And she’s smart, because she mixes the sweet and the sour in there.” — The Hollywood Reporter/Bloomberg
