Alec Baldwin Hosts Jimmy Fallon on Here's the Thing Podcast
Alec Baldwin hosts fellow Hamptonite and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon on his Here’s the Thing podcast this week. In the 50-minute conversation, the two actors discuss Fallon’s childhood, his Saturday Night Live experience, his heroes, how he met his wife and how he, unexpectedly, ended up finding his place in the most coveted seat on late night television.
“I feel comfortable with you, and I feel like I can play with you,” Fallon says, describing his comedic relationship with Baldwin.
Fallon and Baldwin, who have performed together on SNL and in sketches on Late Night—including their fantastically messy “Point Pleasant Police Department” bit—speak easily and comfortably with each other as their talk moves through Fallon’s life in show biz and his unique voice that earned the love of so many fans.
“I tried to keep my act clean,” Fallon says, explaining how he avoided mean jokes and became a “nice” comic. “I want everyone to be in on the joke.”
“You don’t do anything at anybody’s expense, which is kind of a miracle,” Baldwin remarks.
Fallon tells the story of winning an Upstate New York standup comedy contest in his hometown of Saugerties, and then takes Baldwin along for his college days studying communications and doing standup on weekends before eventually joining the Groundlings—and making no bones about the fact that he was there to get on SNL. He remembers landing a couple of television and movie roles, his first failed audition for Saturday Night Live, featuring a misguided troll doll routine, and then, a year and a half later, his famous second audition for Lorne Michaels, which has been described as one of the best ever.
Of course, Fallon got the job. “I’m going to make you proud,” he told Michaels as he fought back tears.
Listen to the interview to hear much more and find out how Fallon, Baldwin, John Goodman and the Saturday Night Live writers predicted the future in 1998.
Produced by WNYC, Baldwin’s Here’s the Thing podcast is a series of intimate and honest conversations with artists, policy makers and performers with the goal of hearing their stories, what inspires their creations, what decisions changed their careers, and what relationships influenced their work.
Use the player below or visit wnyc.org to hear Jimmy Fallon and Alec Baldwin on Here’s the Thing.