Baldwin stunned at popularity of Trump impression

CEBU, Philippines - Alec Baldwin says he’s “stunned” at the popularity of his impression of President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”

Baldwin tells Vanity Fair that he took up “SNL” producer Lorne Michaels’ offer to play the Republican billionaire after a planned movie role fell through. He says it’s turned out to be an “incredible opportunity.”

Baldwin says Kate McKinnon is “one of the three most talented people” he’s worked with on the show. McKinnon has played Hillary Clinton, Trump aide Kellyanne Conway and Attorney General Jeff Sessions on “SNL” this season.

In an excerpt of a new memoir titled “Nevertheless,” Baldwin praises his former “30 Rock” co-star Tina Fey. He writes that working on Fey’s NBC sitcom was the best job he’s had or will ever have.

The actor also stunned fans by revealing he almost lost his life to drugs and alcohol as a young man.

He reveals he turned to substances in an effort to mask severe internal pain, and his bad habits led to a near fatal overdose.

“I got sober when I was just about to turn 27,” the 58-year-old shares in a new interview with Good Morning America, “and those two years that I lived in that white, hot period, as a daily drug abuser, as a daily drinker... to my misery, boy, that was a tough time. There was really a lot of pain in there.”

The “30 Rock” star is convinced he would have eventually kicked his dependence on drugs and alcohol forever, because even at the lowest moments during his recovery, he had hope for a better future.

“I think I was one of the people who was lucky that it sobriety stuck, and therefore if I didn’t get it then, I think I would’ve got it eventually,” he muses.

“I know that at that time, what I describe in the book – overdosing on drugs – which I’ve kept very private for years and years. I think I would have gotten it eventually, but, I’m glad I got it when I did because not many people get sober when they’re young.” (AP)(FREEMAN)