Alec Baldwin was attached to the upcoming D.C. movie “Joker” starring Joaquin Phoenix for almost 48 hours. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Baldwin would be portraying Thomas Wayne, the father of Batman. Supposedly the character was written with an 1980’s era Donald Trump in mind, and Baldwin was thought to be the perfect actor to tackle that challenge. On August 27 it was reported that he had singed on by The Hollywood Reporter, and by August 29 he had announced he was withdrawing. Baldwin was seen as a cornerstone of the film, but not impossible to replace.
Along with Baldwin and Phoenix, Robert DeNiro, Deadpool 2 breakout Zazie Beetz and Glow actor Marc Maron were going to be the all-star cast in what D.C. was describing as a heavily character driven story that is absent a lot of the action their movies have been known for as reported by Entertainment Weekly. Whether it was that, scheduling, or not feeling like playing a Trump-type character, Baldwin told USA Today that he was out. He also tweeted that he had not been hired to play the role, but Warner Brothers had already confirmed the casting to Entertainment Weekly, so there was a load of confusion from all corners as to what did really happen.
Speaking to USA Today, Baldwin reportedly took a bit of a shot at the role, in making it clear that he wanted nothing to do with it stating,”I’m sure there are 25 guys who can play that part.” He then went on to mention scheduling conflicts as another reason for dropping out, but couldn’t explain what scheduling conflict manifested in the day that passed since he was officially announced by the studio for the movie. The reason most sources are hypothesizing for Baldwin dropping out, is apparently the reason he was signed up in the first place – his ability to mimic Trump.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the official description for the Thomas Wayne character is basically a carbon copy of Baldwin’s Saturday Night Live impersonation of Donald Trump.
“Thomas Wayne will be a ‘cheesy and tanned businessman who is more in the mold of a 1980s Donald Trump’ than how he’s traditionally portrayed as a warm-hearted billionaire philanthropist intent on bettering Gotham City who’s cruelly gunned down by a mugger in front of his young son.”
Whatever the real reason Baldwin has for pulling out of the film within 48 hours of being announced is likely something that only he knows, and it appears he isn’t keen on talking about it any further than to say he isn’t doing it.
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