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‘I Had No Idea What I was Going to Do.’ Alec Baldwin Winged His First Donald Trump Impersonation

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Although Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live was an immediate viral sensation, the first time the actor played the then-presidential candidate, he had nothing prepared.

“I had no idea what I was going to do,” the actor told Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday, recalling his first appearance as Trump on Saturday Night Live. “I mean literally the moment I walked out there, I just said to myself, ‘Eyebrow out.’”

“I’m getting the wig on me and I’m sitting there the whole time going, ‘China, China,’ again and again,” he added.

But Baldwin told Kimmel he’s now completely comfortable getting into Trump’s character.

“You’ve got to try to think of who he is,” he said. “And I’ve said this countless times: To me, Trump was someone who, he’s always searching for a stronger, better word, and he never finds it.”

Watch the clip above.

 

 

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Write to Alana Abramson at Alana.Abramson@time.com