Well, that was quick. Alec Baldwin has backed out of appearing as Thomas Wayne in Todd Phillips’ ‘Joker’ citing scheduling conflicts. His casting was JUST announced yesterday. The star stated:
“I’m no longer doing that movie… I’m sure there are 25 guys who can play that part.”
Are there, though? According to The Hollywood Reporter, Phillips’ script, co-written with Scott Snyder, painted the millionaire doctor as “a cheesy and tanned businessman who is more in the mold of a 1980s Donald Trump.” Considering that Baldwin won an Emmy for his depiction of Trump on ‘Saturday Night Live’, it sounds like he was almost typecast. Then again, maybe that would have been too on the nose and possibly even bordering on parody, so perhaps it’s best if someone else takes a crack at the role. ‘Joker’ does take place in the 1980s, according to reports, and that was the era in which Trump rose to prominence as a powerful New York real estate tycoon.
However, before he announced that he was not appearing in ‘Joker’, Baldwin used Twitter to refute that his depiction was in any way Trump-based.
Let me state, for the record, that I have NOT been hired to play a role in Todd Phillips’ JOKER as some Donald Trump manque.
That is not happening.
Not.
Happening.— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) August 29, 2018
Though it’s a mystery, Pedro Pascal‘s role in another Warner Brothers/DC Comics movie, ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ does seem to be channeling Reagan-era Trump. Maybe one corporate villain was plenty for WB’s superhero movies.
It’s unclear what project or projects conflicted with the filming of ‘Joker’, but Baldwin is quite in-demand. He can currently be seen in theaters in ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ and ‘BlacKkKlansman’. He has the comedy ‘Drunk Parents’ and the biopic/documentary ‘Framing John DeLorean’ complete with three more movies in post-production, ‘Arctic Justice’, ‘Motherless Brooklyn’, and ‘Crown Vic’. Though these movies are completed or near completion, he may still be needed to make the rounds to promote them. Two other movies that he is in, ‘Stupid Happy’ and ‘Lamborghini’ are currently filming and he has two more upcoming projects in pre-production, ‘A Few Good Men’ (a TV movie) and ‘Blue Before Blood’. A sequel to ‘The Boss Baby’ is planned and of course, ‘Saturday Night Live”s new season should be kicking off soon.
Are you bummed that Baldwin won’t be in ‘Joker’?
Directed by Todd Phillips, ‘Joker’ stars Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Robert De Niro, Marc Maron and Josh Pais and opens on October 4, 2019.
Source: USA Today
