Alec Baldwin reveals how he’s learned from his mistakes.
THE VOLATILE ACTOR GETS CANDID ABOUT HIS STRUGGLES & SALVATION
“I shudder to think how much more painful and destructive my behavior might have been had I not been sober.”
— Alec
Regrets? Alec Baldwin has more than a few. In his new memoir, Nevertheless, the Emmy-winning 30 Rock vet comes clean about his often-strained relationship with family members, his history of drug and alcohol abuse, and incidents of misbehavior that led him to become a repeated tabloid target. Still, he’s found redemption with wife Hilaria and their three young children. “Three is a tricky number for us,” he told Closer exclusively at the East Hampton, N.Y., Library’s 12th Annual Authors Night. “We’ve got three who are 3 years old and under, so we’re just laying low.”
That’s a new strategy for Alec, who’s never shied away from attention, whether during his stormy marriage to Kim Basinger or with his Donald Trump impression on SNL. But he’s evolved as a result of his errors. “I love second chances,” he says. “I love to see people come back from some adversity, selfinflicted or not, and untangle themselves from a difficult situation.”
At 59, Alec has seen his fair share of those. Reeling after his dad’s death from cancer in 1983, he developed a cocaine and alcohol addiction and nearly died of an overdose while he was playing Joan Van Ark’s suicidal brother on Knots Landing. He sobered up with the help of AA: “I am profoundly grateful for discovering the program that saved my life.”
The loss of Alec’s dad created a rift with his mom, Carol, whom he was unable to support when he was a struggling actor. “My relationship with my mother hit an all-time low,” he writes. “I attribute this to her fear and economic insecurity as a widow.” He also felt alienated from his siblings, including his actor brothers Daniel, William and Stephen (he also has two sisters, Beth and Jane). “I saw my siblings infrequently, something I look back on with a lot of regret.”
But after Carol was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991 and enlisted her kids as advocates in the fight against the disease, Alec developed a warmer bond with his family. “I love you, Mom,” he writes. “And I’m so proud of you.”
The early ’90s also brought Alec’s turbulent marriage to Kim, 63, his co-star in the notorious box-office bomb The Marrying Man, which led to countless scandals, a nasty divorce and an infamous voicemail to their daughter, Ireland, now 21. “My relationship to my daughter was permanently harmed,” he admits, but he adds that it’s now “healed.”
He’s found happiness and inner peace with Hilaria, a 33-year-old yoga teacher, and their kids: daughter Carmen, 3; and sons Rafael, 21 months, and Leonardo, 7 months. “My home is everything I expected and wanted it to be,” he concludes. “I wanted the life we have together.” — Bruce Fretts