Alec Baldwin will Play Trump in SNL Season 44, but It's 'Agony'

Following Saturday Night Live’s win for Variety Sketch Series in the 2018 Emmy Awards last Monday, September 17, the question hung in the air: Would Amagansett resident Alec Baldwin would wear the iconic wig and orange makeup for another season? On the Friday, September 21 Origins with James Andrew Miller podcast, Baldwin confirmed he will indeed return to SNL as President Trump.

Baldwin has been playing Trump on the show for two years, acting in memorable sketches featuring send-ups of the campaign, the election, his decisions as President, his ever-burning love of Fox & Friends and the current investigations. The impersonation won Baldwin an Emmy in 2017, yet the actor had told The Hollywood Reporter playing Trump had become “agony.”

During the podcast, the former 30 Rock star told Miller—a journalist, author and longtime SNL chronicler—“I have fun doing it, there’s no doubt about that…but for me I think I’m going to do some of it, but not a whole lot…there is a lot of fatigue here.”

Baldwin went on to say there are comedians who could do a great—or even better job at parodying the president, also noting, “For those people who don’t think it’s funny, I get that.”

Yet, SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels told Miller, “I think there is probably no other actor who is looking to take that and follow Alec…for a new cast member to come in and try that would be a really tough thing to do.”

According to Variety, SNL’s Weekend Update anchor and Emmy 2018 host Michael Che agrees to feeling exhaustion from the topic of Trump. But, he relents, “It’s hard to leave him out of the conversation.”

Baldwin has not revealed when he’s reappearing as Trump, so fans will just have to watch.

Saturday Night Live will return for Season 44 on NBC this Saturday, September 29 with Star Wars: The Last Jedi star Adam Driver as host, and a musical performance from Kanye West.