LOS ANGELES - Alec Baldwin, 53, might just be NBC's hardest-working employee: He appears in his Emmy-winning role as network executive Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock and is gearing up for another stint as host on Saturday Night Live this weekend for a record-setting 16th time.
Question: When you hosted Saturday Night Live in 1994, you said you could do it with your eyes closed. Does that remain true today?
Baldwin: SNL and I are like a well-oiled machine. I find the one issue is to save your energy. It's an intense week of prep. By Saturday night at 11:30 I want to say, "Can I just lie down and you can start without me?" But they throw cold water on me and slap me across the face.
Q: You recently said you gave up sugar. Where's all that energy going to come from?
A: When you climb the Himalayas, you can't pack your backpack full of Twinkies now, can you? This is my 16th climb on the comedy Kilimanjaro, and I will have no Twinkies in my backpack this time. Every time I do it, I say to myself, "Is this it?" I want to make sure, if this is my last one, that it's going to be good.
Q: It can't be the last one! What if Steve (Martin, who has hosted many times) takes your title?
A: Steve is what - about 20 years older than I am, isn't he? I'm 53, so Steve is almost 80. I think I have the edge in terms of the clock.
Q: And he doesn't have an ice cream flavor to brag about. (Ben and Jerry's recently launched Schweddy Balls, a flavor named after a Baldwin SNL skit.)
A: I'm sure he's coming up with some banjo-related flavor or some bluegrass bonbon flavor. He's always thinking.
Q: Did you know you're a question on those NBC tours because of all the SNL hosting?
A: I'd like to think that I have some place in the fabric of NBC's history. I'm not Johnny Carson or Katie Couric, but I've done [30 Rock] for six years and SNL. I actually started my career [there] doing a soap opera, so I have a lot of NBC on my resumé - for me to now be a question during a building tour, it makes sense.
Q: Do you think the on-your-toes aspect of SNL has been good training for your political aspirations?
A: On a serious note, that's something I've always thought about doing. . . . When you do a show everybody likes, when it's successful critically, it's almost like everyone forgets everything else that you do. A lot of what's done on 30 Rock and SNL is silly and vulgar and outrageous. When you go into public office, you've got to say to yourself, and to the public: Now begins the period where what I say is on the record as a public official as opposed to a public figure. When you get paid from taxpayers and you have your finger on a budget that is taxpayer money, there's a different responsibility than what I do now. If I were to get in politics, I always envision people replaying scenes in an attempt to characterize me and insubstantiate me. You have to kind of scrub all that off you and present yourself with a fresh coat of paint.
Q: I wonder who would play you on an SNL skit if you did make it to office.
A: Oh, God. Jason Sudeikis would just bury me. Sudeikis alone - with one sketch - could kill my entire political career. I'll have Lorne [Michaels] put Sudeikis on CSI or Law & Order: SVU and keep him far from the comedy trough as possible to protect my political future.