Alec Baldwin is ready to resign from the Oval Office -- or at least the Oval Office set on the Saturday Night Live sound stage.
The last few seasons of SNL have largely built their Donald Trump-centric sketches on the actor's ability to maintain an exaggerated duck face while sporadically flexing his fingers and speaking like a mid-tantrum toddler, but Baldwin is saying he wants out of the POTUS-playing game.
Baldwin spoke to USA Today about his Trump impersonation fatigue, saying, "I had a lot of fun with [the cast], and when Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider wrote [Trump sketches in 2016 and 2017], that was new, it was fresh and the ratings were good. But I feel like I'm done with that now. I'm so done with that."
When asked if he might consider returning to the role that won him a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2017, he said, "I can't imagine I would do it again. I just can't. They should find somebody who wants to do it." Baldwin cited comparisons between his impression of Trump and Anthony Atamanuik's impression on The President Show, giving his blessing to that casting idea. "If [Atamanuik] wants the job, it's his," he told the publication. "He can have it."
Baldwin also noted that the series' weekend scheduling costs him free time he would otherwise get to spend with his wife and children.
The actor has expressed frustration with the role in the past; previously, he complained that he felt Trump's criticism of his portrayal could become a threat to his family's safety. In 2017, Baldwin said on Extra that he wasn't planning to do the impression "much longer."
He has continued to return to the show in recent seasons, up to and including the Season 44 finale, which showed his Trump gearing up for the 2020 election. But it sounds like Baldwin isn't eager to return to lampoon that campaign any time soon, which leaves the door wide open for Leslie Jones to finally get her shot at the role.
Saturday Night Live returns this fall on NBC. The series is available for streaming on Hulu.
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