‘SNL’ casts Baldwin as its new Trump
A familiar face returns to “Saturday Night Live” this week for its season premiere when Alec Baldwin debuts his Donald Trump impression, a part he will play for the entire season, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
Baldwin is a close personal friend of “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels and also starred on the Michaels-produced NBC sitcom “30 Rock.” The 58year-old actor officially signed on early this week and taped a promo that debuted on social media Wednesday.
The arrangement is similar to the casting last season of Larry David to play Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders over multiple episodes, an idea that paid off in huge comic dividends with winning sketches like “Bern Your Enthusiasm,” a sendup of David’s long-running HBO hit.
Baldwin has deep ties to SNL, having guest-hosted a record-setting 16 times since his debut in 1990. (Steve Martin is right on his tail at 15.) In that time, he has performed more than a dozen celebrity impressions, including Al Pacino, Bono, Harvey Fierstein, Tony Bennett and Marlon Brando.
Reality star-turned-Republican presidential nominee Trump was played last season by Darrell Hammond, a onetime cast member who returned to the show in 2014 as its announcer. Before Hammond, Trump was played by cast member Taran Killam, whose contract was not picked up for Season 42.
Trump himself hosted the show in November amid much controversy and calls for “SNL” to “#DumpTrump” over the candidate’s perceived racial bias.