Washington [US], June 18 (ANI): Actor Stephen Baldwin has claimed that he was removed from the 1998 romantic comedy ‘The Object of My Affection’ after a producer allegedly told him he was giving a funnier performance than the film’s lead star, Jennifer Aniston.
As per People magazine, speaking in a recent interview, Baldwin recalled an uncomfortable experience during the early days of filming.
“After like the second day of shooting, after lunch, this producer comes to my trailer and goes, ‘There’s a problem,'” Baldwin said,adding, “I go, ‘What’s up?’ He goes, ‘You can’t be funnier than Jennifer,'” as quoted by People magazine.
The ‘The Usual Suspects’ actor said he was stunned by the remark and questioned what it meant for a comedy film.
“‘Is this a joke? This is a comedy movie! Am I about to get punked? What do you even mean by that?'” Baldwin recalled responding.
Baldwin noted that although he had previously been let go from films, including 1989’s ‘Casualties of War’ starring Sean Penn and Michael J Fox, this situation felt different.
“They didn’t say it’s not working first,” he explained,adding, “They just went, ‘There’s a problem. Can you just say the words [and] use your instinct for your responses that you’ve come up with?’ And I’m now like, ‘You’ve just mauled my face like a f–king wolverine asking me to just numb myself,'” as quoted by People magazine.
The 60-year-old actor said the feedback left him feeling confused and creatively restricted.
Describing the experience, Baldwin said he felt “castrated comedically” and struggled to understand the reasoning behind the note.
“I was wondering was it really about my good looks and was I fat?” he said,adding, “I was freaking out.”
According to Baldwin, he attempted to adjust his performance after receiving the feedback.
“I get back in there and I try not to be me,” he said.
However, the actor said he was ultimately dismissed from the project.
“They let me go. They told me I could go home and that was all cool. But that’s just awkward,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin was eventually replaced in the film by Paul Rudd.
Despite recounting the incident, the actor stressed that he did not know whether the original note came from the director, producers, or Aniston herself.
“This isn’t to shred anybody,” he concluded,adding, “This is just to simply say Hollywood is Hollywood.” (ANI)
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