Although Alec Baldwin seemed to be having a ball when talking about his Donald Trump impression the other night on Jimmy Kimmel Live! it seems that his time on Saturday Night Live might be wearing on him somewhat. During a recent appearance on Extra!, Alec Baldwin finally revealed the gist of how long he plans to continue playing Donald Trump on NBC's long-running sketch comedy series. The answer may not be as long as you would guess. Here's what the actor and comedian had to say:
The maliciousness of this White House has people worried, which is why I'm not going to do it much longer, by the way, the impersonation, I don't know how much more people can take it.
Part of being good at Saturday Night Live is knowing when to get out while you are ahead, which is why a lot of big talent on the series eventually leaves the show and goes on to do big box office projects or other TV shows. Alec Baldwin isn't exactly in the same boat, as he's already had a lengthy and prolific career in showbiz, but he still seems to be taking the same sort of advice to heart, telling Mario Lopez that he feels the end is nigh and that people may be getting a little impatient with his portrayal on late night TV.
Of course, he also didn't give us a hard end date for when he will say goodbye to the SNL impression. Honestly, I think he's taken on the gig for a lot longer than many of us anticipated when Baldwin signed on for the job last fall. Then Trump won the election and as recently as a month ago, Alec Baldwin was stating that he would do the Saturday Night Live impression, "as much as [he] can." I don't know what's changed over the past few weeks, but apparently Alec Baldwin doesn't seem to find as much levity in the current White House administration, anymore.
Still, it's safe to say that SNL has seen an increase in the ratings this season, and much of this has been attributed to the series taking on a more political bent. If you take that a step further, you could attribute that to the popularity of Alec Baldwin's portrayal of Donald Trump, along with impressions of Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and more. I don't imagine SNL will slow down on the political impressions anytime soon, but they may need to recast at least one major role.
The impression has potentially put Alec Baldwin into more of the spotlight politically than he intended to be. He's even gotten into mini Twitter fights with the President, who has called Baldwin's impersonation "sad." We'll let you know if and when Alec Baldwin announces the retirement of his Donald Trump impersonation. In the meantime, new episodes of SNL air on Saturdays at 11:30 ET, only on NBC. To find out who is set to host soon, take a look at our full guide.
