SNL Alum Rob Schneider Blasts Alec Baldwin: He Plays Trump With a ‘Fuming, Seething Anger’
Rob Schneider thinks that Saturday Night Live is killing the joke.
In an interview with the New York Daily News published Friday, the SNL veteran said that he felt like his old stomping grounds were hitting the politics too hard on one side.
“The fun of Saturday Night Live was always you never knew which way they leaned politically,” he said. “You kind of assumed they would lean more left and liberal, but now the cat’s out of the bag they are completely against Trump, which I think makes it less interesting because you know the direction the piece is going.”
Alec Baldwin‘s sour-faced, bombastic impression of President Donald Trump has become a mainstay of recent SNL episodes. Baldwin has said that he hates the role.
“Alec Baldwin is a brilliant actor… he’s not a comedian,” Schneider remarked, comparing Baldwin’s impression of Trump to comedy legend Dana Carvey‘s famous impression of George H.W. Bush, also popularized by SNL.
“To me, the genius of Dana Carvey was Dana always had empathy for the people he played, and Alec Baldwin has nothing but a fuming, seething anger toward the person he plays,” Schneider explained.
“I don’t find his impression to be comical,” he continued. “Because, like I said, I know the way his politics lean and it spoils any surprise. There’s no possible surprise. He so clearly hates the man he’s playing.”
He also cautioned against riling up the president too much.
“Nothing good can come from making Trump nervous,” Schneider added. “It’s like asking Bill Cosby to top off your drink.”
[image via screengrab]
