Alec Baldwin: Hollywood's King of Menace

"Next I'm shooting 'Lyme Life', about a character who gets Lyme's Disease, with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tim Hutton."

And to answer you question, pal, why am I here? I came here because Mitch and Murray asked me to. They asked me for a favor. I said the real favor, follow my advice and fire your fucking ass because a loser is a loser.

You call yourself a salesman, you son of a bitch?

Baldwin would end the night at an arcade warehouse playing "Galaga."

"I would play video games from, like, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and I would wind down. Then I'd go home and go to bed," Baldwin writes.

"This was the only way I could go 'beta' and go into that state I needed to be, where I could calm down and take my mind off everything. I didn't want to see anybody, talk to anybody, deal with anybody."

A "moment of clarity" came when he saw pity in the face of Julian, the person who ran the parlor.

"I was doing a show then ['Knots Landing'], making tens of thousands of dollars a week, which was part of the problem," he writes.

"Julian would put the key in the lock and open the door, and he would just kind of look at me like, 'Wow, I'm glad I'm not you.' "

Baldwin agreed. "You got no idea, Julian. Julian, I need you. I need you to get that key and open the f- - -ing door and let me in. I got to play 'Galaga.' "

Great American or Greatest American?

WOW O_O

i just went 'beta' reading that info

Good choice of game, it was far better than frickin' Galaxian.

i liked centipede - also ive often thought working on a soap opera as an actor or a writer would be pretty amzing

going beta.

i mean that's a pathetic story but it's awesome.

I love him. The way he insulted Seacrest to his face at the Golden Globes was also awesome.

dudes he was high on coke and just needed to chill out and play some galaga - not really such a remarkable story - we all been there

o whatd he say to seacrest i missed that???

Seeing all sorts of reports now about him being hospitalized.

released within an hour?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/02/alec-baldwin-examined-at-hospital-following-misunderstanding-according-to-rep.html

His daughter phoned 911 and Baldwin had to go to hospital to prove he hadn't taken pills?

OK, so he was completely stoned had taken one too many Ambien, and that's how he ended up at hospital. Where presumably he woke up going - where the fuck am I?!?!

Alec Baldwin offers advice to Charlie Sheen

Conan has moved on and his great talent is undiminished by his difficult experiences. I had wanted to say to him back then what I will now offer to Charlie. You can't win. Really. You can't. When executives at studios and networks move up to the highest ranks, they are given a book. The book is called How to Handle Actors. And one principle held dear in that book is that no actor is greater than the show itself when the show is a hit. And, in that regard, they are often right. Add to that the fact that the actor who is torturing their diseased egos is a drug addled, porn star-squiring, near Joycean Internet ranter, and they really want you to go.

Granted, it didn't get real until you insulted them. And your suit may have real grounds.

But you know what you should do? Take a nap. Get a shower. Call Chuck. Go on Letterman and make an apology. Write a huge check to the B'Nai Brith. And then beg for your job back. Your fans demand it. You will never win because when you are as big a douchebag as some of these guys are, they have no choice but to snuff you. (Do you secretly want to get snuffed? So you can go back and make movies?)

Sober up, Charlie. And get back on TV, if it's not too late. This is America. You want to really piss off Chuck and Warner Brothers and CBS? Beg for America's forgiveness. They will give it to you. And then go back. You are a great television star. And you've got the gig. As I learned from closely observing Tony Bennett so I could impersonate him on SNL, this is supposed to be fun.

PS...buy Cryer a really nice car.

haha his "here's the thing" podcast is both pretty good and really hard to take seriously

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/heresthething/

i mean, "so what" as bumper music. dude you're killing me.

lol

ok he just used the phrase "sensuous quotient" when talking to kristen wiig

i mean, "so what" as bumper music. dude you're killing me.

Pink? Miles Davis? Ministry?

haha

listening to the Kristen Wiig episode. alec works in this context, unsurprisingly

This MSNBC show is pretty good.

I missed it last week, but watched it tonight and it's a testament to his interview skills that I didn't flip channels while Chris Matthews was spitting all over the table talking about this and that. Michael Powell's half of the show was a far better read of what levels the show can probably reach.

Looking forward to the 2001 stars next week.

http://pagesix.com/2013/11/26/msnbc-fires-alec-baldwin/

Baldwin really used to be good, I think Lorne michaels ruined what made him good in the first place at some point. Kinda like how hanks' quest to be nu-jimmy stewart buried some of his best qualities.

i've heard AB's public radio show a couple times, lotta theatre folk, he's a decent interviewer. He got Patti LuPone to say she hated the music in Evita at first, humanized her in my eyes.

I hope WNYC doesn't fire him and end Here's The Thing. I really like those interviews: Seinfeld, Billy Joel, especially Elain Stritch.

Baldwin’s dismissal was decided on partly because of his diva-like behavior toward co-workers, a source said.
Besides demanding a humidifier because he claimed the air at 30 Rock was too dry, Baldwin alienated staffers when he demanded a separate makeup room being used by a woman with cancer who is sensitive to hairspray.
When Baldwin was told he couldn’t have his way, he allegedly bellowed at the top of his lungs, “I don’t give a f - - k if she has cancer or not, I want that f - - king makeup room.”

lol

i still love baldwin in miami blues

When Baldwin's character on 30 Rock was told he couldn’t have his way, he allegedly bellowed at the top of his lungs, “I don’t give a f - - k if she has cancer or not, I want that f - - king makeup room.”

fixed, i hope.

he does seem to be a pretty intelligent guy wrapped in a huge ego

:-(

Baldwin also spoke at length with us about MSNBC and the future of his podcast (or rather, the end of his podcast)—we'll have all of that tomorrow.

http://gothamist.com/2013/11/26/msnbc_cancels_alec_baldwins_show.php

i still love baldwin in miami blues

― https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD7PvtbkH0I (Hungry4Ass), Wednesday, November 27, 2013 12:36 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

young Baldwin was one of the all-time greats imo. Malice, Red October, Miami Blues. RIP.

his glengarry cameo is brobait but still top notch. you watch him play that role vs how he plays every role now (or so it seems) and RIP indeed.

yeah hes great in ggr. cant take nothin away from him there. I like him in The Cooler too but i get what you mean about snl ruining him.

love him in the departed but that's the best-case scenario for a post-SNL performance. maybe. didn't see him in blue jasmine, maybe it's different.

Charges against Baldwin were dismissed and production is resuming on the movie. Sooooo looking forward to when this thing hits Redbox.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/18/entertainment/alec-baldwin-rust-filming-to-resume/index.html

if i had shot and killed someone on the set of a movie i would simply not resume production under any circumstances

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alec-baldwin-indicted-manslaughter-charge-rust-shooting-rcna134564

SANTA FE, N.M. — Alec Baldwin is headed to trial over the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed in 2021 after the actor's prop gun fired a live round of ammunition on the "Rust" film set.

The decision to indict Baldwin was announced Friday after a New Mexico grand jury heard evidence presented by special prosecutors Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis. He was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter.

---

If convicted, Baldwin could face up to 18 months in prison. A trial date has not been set.

The grand jury's indictment comes after the same New Mexico prosecutors dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin in April.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rust-prosecutors-allege-armorer-hannah-211536642.html

yeah, it's kind of shocking that there was even a single round of live ammo on set

Baldwin can probably share some blame for running a shoddy production, but I honestly don't see how he could've known there was a live round in the chamber

Hannah Gutierrez found guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/06/rust-shooting-hannah-gutierrez-reed-verdict

The state also claimed that she was using marijuana during the production. Gutierrez-Reed’s defense said that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she brought live rounds on to the set and argued that Hutchins’ death was the result of Baldwin pointing the weapon at the cinematographer.

“It was not in the script for Mr Baldwin to point the weapon,” defense attorney Jason Bowles said. “She didn’t know that Mr Baldwin was going to do what he did.”

...

look I definitely think more than just Gutierrez-Reed is responsible here, and Baldwin likely lied about not pulling the trigger, but she really needed some better defense attorneys.

such a weird case.. why in the hell were there live rounds on a movie set to begin with? Though Brandon Lee was killed by a blank I think, or at least that was the story at the time

it was a dummy cartridge that was made from a live round and got lodged in the barrel and essentially pushed out and into Lee by the blank when fired

xp
The most believable story is that some of the cast/crew would go out shooting with live ammo when the movie was not being made, using the production's guns, and that the separation of live ammo from blanks was done poorly.

this was a very good interview with Chad Stahleski and he talks a bit about guns on movie sets.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/john-wick-filmmaker-chad-stahelski-sequels-oscar-stunt-snubs-firearms-1235343132/

So much of your job is about safety, and you started your career in 1994 doubling for Brandon Lee after he died in an on-set accident with a gun while filming The Crow. How did you process the Rust shooting?

What happened on Rust … I wasn’t there, but the accidents that I’ve been around, seen or been part of have always been human error. It’s never mechanical. So, let’s just talk about firearms. Back in the day, when it all started, they came up with blanks. A blank is a bullet without the projectile, but they couldn’t put you and me in the same shot, 5 feet apart, and one of us pull the trigger. The concussive force coming out at the end of the barrel would be enough to shatter your skull. Accidents like that did happen and people died because of it. But in the past 10 years, they’ve come out with electronic guns, plug guns where it is impossible for anything to come out of the barrel and total CG. That’s the way we do it. That technology is out there for everybody.

Why isn’t everybody using it?

My feeling is that there’s no reason to have a live firearm on set. We can create cities and spaceships and Godzilla and all these things. We have the technology to do the same with firearms. But, for the last 100 years, Hollywood’s been using real firearms. And for prop houses, armorers or supply houses to switch over, it would make their entire stock of real firearms useless. It comes down to the fact that it would cost certain people a great deal of money to switch over. No one wants to say that, but that’s the real reason. You don’t need firearms. The alternative is just going to cost you more money

Sentenced to 18 months

https://deadline.com/2024/04/hannah-guitierrez-reed-sentenced-rust-shooting-1235885923/

i'd be a lot more sympathetic if she hadn't been reported as reckless and aloof on the set and continued to double down that it wasn't her fault even days before sentencing

otoh, that doesn't mean she's wrong that working conditions were awful and that it didn't play a role.

Baldwin saying he didn't pull the trigger was gross, esp since it's now been proven that he obviously did

BALDWIN WALKS

lol

During her testimony, Baldwin’s defense attorney asked (Prosecutor Kari Morrissey) whether she had referred to the actor as an “arrogant prick” and “cocksucker” in a conversation with a witness.

Prosecutors have long said evidence shows that Gutierrez-Reed, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March, was the source of the live round, but the defense said the state had received evidence that suggested otherwise and “buried” it. A “good samaritan” had come forward to police this year with a box of munitions that he claimed came from the prop supplier, Seth Kenney, and matched the ammunition that killed Hutchins, Spiro had said on Thursday.

So does that mean Gutierrez-Reed's conviction is going to be overturned?

certainly seems like grounds to reopen her case

So does this film have a release date yet? Don't know about you but I can't wait to see RUST

the judge wouldn't let the prosecution mention he wasn't only an actor on this movie, but also the executive producer, that is fucked up.

So does this film have a release date yet?

I think there's at least one scene they need to recut

Baldwin’s “role” as an executive producer had no bearing on what transpired. He wrote a few cheques and deferred his salary. He isn’t in charge of fucking firearms, or even hiring most of the crew

^^^

how very American

like as if a raging egomaniac would be such a passive influence on a project he's pumping his own money into, lol stop it

I get you hate him, but he’s not liable, and the New Mexico DA fucked this up big time

aiui being an executive producer on a Hollywood movie has nothing to do with creative control. it's a sort of 'dummy' position in the hierarchy of investors, a placeholder in the contract that gets its own share when the profits are split. it's usually a 'reward' for contributing your name and influence in the early stages of the deal making that helps the owners of the 'property' assemble enough backing to get the film made.

^you didn’t have to go through that effort to explain basic facts to someone who wants to be ignorant of them. It’s line producers who do much of the heavy lifting

no more did you have to respond to my post and yet we both posted and no one got hurt in the process

You were both using blanks

it's best practices, y'know

I like my sugar glass with coffee and cream

the culmination of this actor's unprofessional and unsafe behaviour on the set was someone dying, there is footage of him shooting guns at people multiple times on the set that has been described as "horseplay" it was obv a pattern of behaviour by someone who was always the richest and most powerful person in the room. Yes I know he didn't intentionally put a live round in the gun. But there is case here that has been absolutely fucked up by the prosecution imo.

There was no fucking case. He was not the armourer, he was not a safety expert, he was not a propmaster. Actors and producers are simply not in charge of things like that, and it shows a fundamental lack of knowledge about how film sets operate

^^^

how very American

What does that even mean? You have no understanding of the hierarchies and roles that people are assigned on films.

other actors (with knowledge about how film sets operate) have said that casually pointing guns at people on set, firing guns at ppl on set is considered unsafe practise and for a good reason.

the film set understander has logged on ..lol

Holy shit, this dude has his own reality show on its way, and it addresses (hinges on?) the aftermath of the shooting?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xVv5g89xgE

I'm not watching that, what accent is Hilaria using?

She's from 'New Spain' (aka California)

Who's really gonna go see this movie? Raise your hands

i had them raised just in case tbh

The most awkward end credits blooper reel ever.

in the Guardian review, Halyna Hutchins' cinematography is singled out as maybe the only redeeming aspect of the film

same with Manohla Dargis in the NYT

"The most awkward end credits blooper reel ever."

That was dark. But funny. I wonder if there's going to be a manufactured media controversy about Oscar nominations. My hunch is that Hutchins isn't going to get one. She was in the "in memoriam" section back in 2022, and I imagine the production company just want to get the film over and done with ASAP. Based on the trailers it looks nice, but not any more nice than lots of other films.

But then again cinematography is more than just a succession of attractive setups, so what do I know.

vg dm

The cinematography was to die for