Much like Morgan Freeman with The Shawshank Redemption and March of the Penguins, or Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver and The Irishman, some Hollywood voices sound as if they’re destined to become cinematic narrators. Another distinct voice in show business is that of Alec Baldwin, who most famously narrated one of the 2000s’ best movies, The Royal Tenenbaums, and, of course, voiced everyone’s favorite boss baby... The Boss Baby from The Boss Baby.
Although it’s been a few years since The Boss Baby 2: Family Business, the industry hasn’t forgotten of his vocal talents, and Saturday Night Live vet Nasim Pedrad almost may have even roped him into a role for her Roku show Chad; specifically, that of older Chad. I caught up with Nasim Pedrad on behalf of CinemaBlend in anticipation of Chad Season 2, and she explained:
It's so funny because in the original iteration of the show, back when it was at Fox, we shot a completely different pilot of the show. And in that version, I had narration of older Chad kind of walking us through what's happening in his adolescence, and we got - asked Alec Baldwin to play the older voice of grown up Chad, which delighted me to my core.
For those of you who don’t know, the show Chad is completely absurd and I love it to pieces. Nasim Pedrad plays Chad, a 14-year-old Persian-American boy trying desperately to fit in who can’t stop getting in his own way. He’s so hilariously cringey that the idea of him growing up to have the charismatic presence of Alec Baldwin really is hilarious, and it tickles me to my core as well. It's not only because the idea is ridiculous, but because it would change the format of the show in a very significant way, making the show feel more like Young Sheldon or The Wonder Years.
It’s just as charming as it is absurd that Chad would grow up to be Alec Baldwin, as he does go through a lot. Pedrad, who also writes and produces the show, also shows how difficult it would be for the children and grandchildren of immigrants to deal with finding their own cultural identity. Thus, she wants us to empathize with Chad, as she continued:
The thought of this nerd growing up to sound like cool Alec Baldwin really tickled me. The narration went away and the TBS version, but yeah, I'd like to think that all of this adversity eventually gives him enough grit to make something of himself.
If you check out the video of our interview at the top of this article, you’ll see she almost said that Baldwin was already on board. Though Pedrad was done with SNL, chances are that she kept some friends, and who better than their resident Donald Trump at the time, Alec Baldwin? Chad has had a bit of bad luck, moving from Fox to TBS, then being cancelled on the day it was supposed to premiere Season 2. Maybe the star power of Alec Baldwin would have made for a smoother ride.
You can check out the entirety of Season 2 of Chad on the Roku Channel right now! It's just another exciting addition to our 2024 TV schedule. And of course, you can stream The Boss Baby with a Netflix subscription.
