Stephen Baldwin has finally addressed his dismissal from hit romcom The Object of My Affection after 30 years, claiming that it was all down to him being “funnier” than co-star Jennifer Aniston.
The 1998 film, which starred Aniston as a pregnant woman who develops feelings for her gay roommate (Paul Rudd), originally cast Baldwin in the role of Vince McBride, the boyfriend of the Friends star’s character.
However, Baldwin left the project shortly after filming began, with Mad About You star John Pankow taking over the role. It was reported at the time that the actor – known for his roles in Born on the Fourth of July and The Usual Suspects – had been let go “over different interpretations of the part”.
The 60-year-old has now spoken out about his departure from The Object of My Affection, claiming that producers had “a problem” with him being “funnier” than Aniston.
“So I get there and I'm me. Jennifer’s cute and whatever. I got a girl. I’m good,” he told TJ Miller on his podcast, One Bad Move with Stephen Baldwin. “After lunch, this producer comes to my trailer and goes, ‘There’s a problem. You can’t be funnier than Jennifer.’
“I go, ‘Is this a joke? This is a comedy movie, am I about to get punk’d?’”
After Miller, who worked with Aniston on Office Christmas Party in 2016, said that the comment probably didn’t come from Aniston as she is “really funny”, Baldwin continued: “I don’t know. This isn’t to shred anybody. This is just simply to say ‘Hollywood is Hollywood’.”
Baldwin added that he got fired “for the same thing” on 1989 drama Casualties of War, which starred Michael J Fox and Sean Penn as American soldiers during the Vietnam War who kidnap a Vietnamese woman.
“I've created a character and they went, ‘It’s not working… here’s your money. Go home.’ This one was similar, but they didn’t say, ‘It’s not working,’ first,” Baldwin said on the podcast. “They just went, ‘There’s a problem. Can you just say the words?’”
He added that being given the critique felt like a Wolverine had “mauled” his face and like he’d been “castrated comedically”.
“You’re asking me to, like, just numb myself?” he said, admitting that he was “freaking out” that the criticism was actually about other things. “I was wondering, was it really about my good looks? Was I fat?”
Baldwin said that after he confronted producers over the feedback, they let him go. “They told me I could go home and that was all cool, but that’s just awkward.”
The Independent has contacted Aniston’s representatives and 20th Century Studios for comment.
Baldwin, who is the brother of actors Alec, William and Daniel as well as the father of model Hailey Bieber, has failed to land big Hollywood roles in the last 20 years – with his last blockbuster being The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas back in 2000.
Since then, he has taken roles in a number of direct-to-video films and faith-based dramas. He’s also competed on various reality shows in recent years, including Celebrity Big Brother, The Celebrity Apprentice, I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and SAS: Who Dares Wins’ American cousin, Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
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