Alec Baldwin
Award-winning actor Alec Baldwin participated as a guest speaker in New York Film Academy’s (NYFA) speaker series back on July 21 of this year.
It was a huge honor for the film school; which has campuses in both New York and Los Angeles. The event was broadcasted remotely on NYFA’s website and also on YouTube. Tova Laiter, the Director of the NYFA Q&A Series, served as the moderator.
Alec discussed the acting profession and technique with NYFA students and alumni all on live video. He is best known for his portrayal of Trump on Saturday Night Live, (SNL) and since 1980; won three Emmy awards, three Golden Globes, and seven consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actor on his role as Jack Donaghy on NBC-TV’S sit-com 30 Rock, and a supporting actor nomination at the Oscars for The Cooler (2004).
Baldwin’s extensive filmography includes The Hunt For Red October, which NYFA founder Jerry Sherlock was Executive Producer, Glengarry, Glen Ross, It’s Complicated, The Departed, Pearl Harbor, Blue Jasmine, Still Alice, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, etc.
Here’s a video clip of Alec Baldwin NYFA Guest Speaker Series on YouTube:
According to the NYFA website, the conversation began with Baldwin discussing his place in Hollywood with Ms. Laiter.
“In the beginning, you have a boyish gratitude [on set], similar to being a guest in someone’s house,” he began, “everyone on the set knows more than you, but that changes later on when you are on a film and someone says something to you and you go ‘no, I think it’s this,’ as you begin to understand what will make a scene work.”
The Q&A continued with Alec discussing his successful career as both an actor and as a comedic performer. He brought up his character Jack in 30 Rock. “The show, to me, is one of the ultimate examples of me being the beneficiary of very good writing,” he shares. “The writing was the best I had ever seen in terms of comedy and it was natural to me.”
A student asked Baldwin about what it’s like to be an actor when giving a performance in film versus acting on a television series.
Baldwin responded that “movie making is more intense than television and you have to go with what works, where television gives you more time to spread your character arc or story along and there’s far more complexity involved in television because of more time.”
