 "Photo: Courtesy of Nancy Adler")
Emmy award-winning actor Alec Baldwin spoke before a sold-out crowd at the Time Warner Center for Fordham Law’s Forum on Law, Culture and Society on Feb. 24. The discussion, moderated by forum director and Fordham Law professor Thane Rosenbaum, focused on how law has been portrayed in Baldwin’s films, as well as the actor’s activism and other work.
Baldwin spoke about a variety of issues that are important to him, including renewable energy and animal rights. The actor also talked about what he felt was wrong with the media today and specifically named Time Warner as “one of the most egregious culprits.”
“At one end of the hallway, you have actors and actresses who are performing jobs that they’re contracted to do, and at the other end of the hallway you have a tabloid journalism enterprise, which is trying to report all the dirt on those people,” he said.
Rosenberg praised Baldwin’s blog on the Huffington Post, saying that the “30 Rock” star was one of the best writers and actors he has ever seen. Rosenbaum read a passage from Baldwin’s 2008 book, “A Promise to Ourselves,” about his much-publicized custody battle and the trend of one parent alienating the child from the other.
Rosenbaum presented Baldwin with a Fordham Law School tie and said he hoped he would wear it when he co-hosts the Academy Awards with comedian Steve Martin on March 6. Baldwin responded, “I think I’m going to wear this the next time I speak at Hofstra Law School.”
Rosenbaum mentioned that Baldwin considered going to law school before he decided to study drama at New York University and subsequently land his first major role on the soap opera “The Doctors.”
“I think I’d rather play a doctor than be a lawyer,” Baldwin said. After Rosenbaum asked, “If you had gone to law school, would the Baldwin brothers have followed you there?” Baldwin said, “I would be representing them.”
The big question remains if the outspoken actor would ever run for public office himself. After being asked during the seminar, Baldwin said, “Yeah… maybe.”
The 90-minute event was filled to capacity, with 400 people turned away from the venue.
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