Well, that was quick.
Less than two days after we reported that Alec Baldwin had joined the cast of Todd Phillips’ Joker film, USA Today is reporting that he is NOT doing it.
Baldwin told the paper that he wasn’t doing the role due to “scheduling conflicts,” adding “I’m sure there are 25 guys who can play that part.”
I call shenanigans. One would think that schedules would be the first thing checked when an actor signs on for a film.
I have three guesses as to what happened. One, Warner Brothers didn’t officially have Baldwin signed and made the announcement to force his hand.
Second, it might have been a case of Baldwin’s reps agreeing to the role before he officially signed off on it. That smacks of bad representation there, if that’s the case.
My third guess is that Baldwin bailed after he read in The Hollywood Reporter that the Thomas Wayne character would be presented as “a cheesy and tanned businessman who is more in the mold of a 1980s Donald Trump.” Baldwin has been upfront about the fact that he considers his Trump impersonation for Saturday Night Live to be an albatross around his neck, calling the job “agony”and “exhausting.” But he seems stuck doing that impersonation for the foreseeable future. However, I’m sure he doesn’t want to portray a pastiche of him in a major motion picture, and act that would typecast him in a role he’s not terribly fond of.
More on this as it develops.
