Alec Baldwin's career is filled with a number of notable and memorable characters, but few stand out quite like his part of Glengarry Glen Ross. From his authoritarian attitude to his pairing of swinging brass balls, it's a performance that few will soon forget. That being said, it turns out Baldwin isn't big on revisiting his past work, which is why he told me the following when I recently asked him about a Glengarry Glen Ross reference in the new movie Boss Baby.
I think that whenever people ask me to do that, if it works... I remember on SNL they wanted me to do sendups of that, and I wouldn't do that until Seth Meyers, before he took off to do his show and he was writing for them, he wrote these Santa's elves who were in the shop and we did the Glengarry parody there. And I never wanted to do that, but his was so well written that I caved and I did it. And again, here they have it in there. And it's funny. I'm not somebody who sits there, and my own movies are screening in my home. But I do recognize that people really like that movie.
In Boss Baby, the Alec Baldwin-voiced titular character at one point grabs a desert out of another toddler's hand, announcing "Cookies are for closers" -- so when I had the chance to speak with Baldwin about the movie this month, I felt compelled to ask about the nod. Obviously the reference in the film isn't as big a deal as an entire Saturday Night Live sketch that parodies his entire performance in Glengarry Glen Ross, but it still seems that it's not the easiest task in the world getting Baldwin to make gags about his past.
In case you don't fully grasp what is being discussed here, do yourself a favor and watch the amazing clip below to see one of Alec Baldwin's briefest, but easily most impactful performances ever. And then perhaps rewatch it with your eyes closed, imaging the Boss Baby delivering the lines himself.
It is entirely reasonable for Alec Baldwin to be a bit reticent in this area. More than just wanting to move on to new things and not live in the past, it's understandable that he wants to respect the integrity of what he's done and not compromise it by having parody outweigh the original's impact. That's a delicate thing to play with, and Baldwin clearly understands that.
You can watch Alec Baldwin talk about Boss Baby's Glengarry Glen Ross reference in the video below.
Boss Baby arrives in theaters this Friday, March 31st, and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from my interview with star Alec Baldwin.
