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Not So Fast: Alec Baldwin Says He May Not Be Done Playing Trump on SNL

Alec Baldwin. Photo: Will Heath/NBC

Sorry, Donald Trump: Alec Baldwin might not be done skewering you on Saturday Night Live after all. Last week, the actor made headlines for telling an interviewer he was “so done†with playing POTUS on NBC’s sketch-comedy show. But Baldwin on Monday told Vulture that it’s still too soon to say definitively whether he’ll don the orange wig again. “To be honest with you, I don’t really know,†Baldwin said during a brief phone conversation to promote Wednesday’s return of Match Game on ABC. SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels “is my dear friend and that’s one of the most important relationships I’ve had,†Baldwin explained. “Lorne was responsible for coercing me into doing 30 Rock, which was the best job I’ve ever had in my life … [He] is somebody that I trust, and after I have a nice conversation with him, we’ll see what the future holds. We’ll see.â€

So what did Baldwin mean when he said he was “done†playing Trump? “When I say, ‘I’m sick of it,’ and I say, ‘I’m so done with it,’ what I’m sick of and I’m so done with is just examining that character,†Baldwin said. “My feelings about Trump are on the record. I think you can’t criticize Trump enough. There’s no crossing a line there, to some degree. But the bottom line is, whatever political energy I’ve had, I would typically put that into candidacies or issue initiatives. And sometimes I wonder if I want to put that energy there. Because I don’t have a limitless amount of time. I have four kids and that’s by far the priority in my life.â€

As he noted last week, Baldwin said doing Trump means giving up weekends with his kids during the school year, something he’s no longer sure is worth it. “We’ll see what remains to be seen, but when I say, ‘I’m sick of it,’ when I say, ‘I’m done with it,’ I mean in my heart I feel like, for me, what am I accomplishing?†Baldwin said he still thinks SNL’s Trump humor is funny and that audiences — or at least the ones he meets in public — still seem to be into his impression. “I still have a lot of people who thank me every day. Every day, people thank me and slap me on the back and say, ‘Oh, you’re so funny; we love your Trump,’†Baldwin said. “And certainly I have a quotient of people who sneer at me when I walk by, who are supporters of Trump.â€Â Not to mention the former Arkansas governors who seem very, very obsessed with Baldwin’s impersonation.

Alec Baldwin Says He May Not Be Done Playing Trump on SNL