Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump has been a staple on ‘SNL’ for the past few years, but the actor is looking to wrap up his run as Joe Biden is named President-elect.
Alec Baldwin, 62, is ready to “retire” his portrayal of Donald Trump, 74, on Saturday Night Live. The actor debuted the character to much fanfare in Sept. 2016 — however, with Joe Biden, 77, named as President-elect, Nov. 7 could be Alec’s last time playing Donald. “Alec is so so happy that he will be able to retire the wig. The Donald Trump character for Alec has been a blessing and a curse and he is very very happy that he will only have to play it maybe one more time tonight,” a source close to the show tells HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY.
Although the It’s Complicated actor is “happy” to wrap up his run, he’ll stay on-call for SNL‘s longtime show runner Lorne Michaels. “He will be available for Lorne if need be for the rest of the season but he is looking very much forward to never play the character ever again,” our insider noted, suggesting that the door isn’t completely closed for Alec’s Trump. “It is a very happy day for Alec right now,” they also said.
Alec has had a slew of memorable moments playing Donald over the years, with the sketches becoming more and more ridiculous over the years. During the pandemic, SNL hilariously mocked the real-life Donald’s comments about “injecting” disinfectants like Lysol or Clorox as a way to combat COVID-19 (note: these products are poisonous if ingested, and both brands issued statements warning people not to do so). “Congratulations to the class of COVID-19 — wow…now my valet got the virus, so I had to do my own makeup. I had to resort to a Liza Minelli TikTok makeup tutorial,” Alec’s Trump said during a May 9 sketch, going to chug Clorox right from the bottle (or, as he called it, “good old invisibility juice”).
Baldwin’s Trump gained an honorable opponent with the addition of Jim Carrey‘s Joe Biden this season. While Jim, 58, was never a full-time SNL cast member, he successfully hosted in past in years — and also slayed his portrayal of Biden, 77! The pair went head-to-head in several sketches that will be memorable for years to come, including a spoof on the debate in the season 46 premiere. Jim’s Joe completely lost his cool on Alec’s Trump, just like in the real-life debate. “Joe Biden is mean to me. The China virus is mean to me,” Alec-as-Donald claimed, prompting Jim’s Joe to retort, “Would you just shut up, man?“
Lorne Michaels recently talked about Alec’s incredible run as Donald Trump on the series, noting that he didn’t consider the portrayal to be a “celebrity cameo.” He explained, “Alec does his version of it, and his has more depth because he’s really doing a character. But then he’s also doing stuff that’s written by a fairly sophisticated writing staff….I honestly don’t think of it as [a] celebrity cameo….Alec Baldwin’s probably done the show 25 or 30 times. He’s just part of an extended group.”