Alec Baldwin has quite a bit to show for his career these days. His film "Rock Of Ages" opened on Friday, his "30 Rock" character Jack Donaghy is a fan favorite, and he has quite the following on Twitter.
But back in 1983, Baldwin wasn't exactly a hot shot. While interviewing David Letterman on his podcast "Here's The Thing," the actor opened up about his humble beginnings.
"I'll never forget the first job I got," Baldwin told Letterman. "I had done the soap in New York, and they paid you, you know, a very small amount of money, and I thought I was Rockefeller. I do an audition for the show 'Knots Landing.' I get done, leave the thing -- and no cellphones then; this is 1983 -- and so I pull up to a phone booth. I call my agent; it’s late in the afternoon; they’re still in the office. He goes, 'How did it go?' I go, 'How did it go? I think it went pretty well.' 'Pretty well? You moron! They want to hire you!'
"I literally urinated in my trousers," he continued. "Now I’m standing in a phone booth on the corner of like Walker and Washington in Culver City, and the guy tells me this, and that’s when my life changed."
Thirty years after his fateful "Knots Landing" audition, Baldwin is faithful to the small screen. But when he angrily tweeted that he would be leaving NBC in April, "30 Rock" fans panicked over the demise of their beloved Jack Donaghy.
Baldwin cleared up the tweets a few days later at a National Press Club luncheon in Washington saying, “We all signed for six years, and I did sign a contract extension for a seventh season. I would’ve done it next year and the year after that, but the truth of the matter is that NBC is in its predicament. … They’re in this tough place, and we’d like to see them get out of it."
To listen to Baldwin's full interview with Letterman, head over to WNYC.
