Alec Baldwin is back as Trump on “SNL,” but, “playing him is not always fun”

NBC/Will Heath

(NEW YORK) — Saturday Night Live opened its 43rd season this weekend, and fittingly the new season began with a cold open featuring Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump, lampooning the president’s response to the disaster in Puerto Rico and his war of words with San Juan mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.

Last month, Baldwin won an Emmy for his portrayal, which Vanity Fair called “the most important TV performance of 2017.”  But Baldwin says he doesn’t feel a responsibility to keep on playing President Trump, even though he admits, “it’s been great for him.”

“I’ve loved doing it in terms of its impact on people,” he tells ABC Radio. “Playing him is not always fun. Playing Santa Claus is fun.”

Instead, he says, playing Trump is more like, “a duty you might have to try to hold a mirror up to this man and this process and help people get a little bit of a laugh out of it.”

His hope is that while people are laughing, they’ll register to vote — and then go out vote when the time comes.

Baldwin says he’ll continue his Trump impression on SNL “as much as he has time for.” This season, he says, he’ll have time for “a few shows.”  But he jokes he’ll have to be prepared if Trump finds himself out of a job before his term is up.

“Then we have [SNL cast member] Beck Bennett that can do [Vice President Mike] Pence,” he says. “We have Pence standing by.” 

Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

Powered by WPeMatico