Emmys 2012: Emmy veteran Alec Baldwin wipes away the tears

By Yvonne Villarreal

July 19, 2012 12 AM PT

Someone get Alec Baldwin a pillow!

The “30 Rock” star scored himself yet another Emmy nomination for lead actor in a comedy with his turn as slick network executive Jack Donaghy. So after a steady stream of nominations (and the occasional win) for his portrayal, how does the 54-year-old celebrate such recognition?

“I sob into my pillow and say, ‘But do they really mean it?’ ” Baldwin joked to The Times. “It’s really a muffled sob. And then I go to the mirror and once more ask, ‘but do they really mean it?’ ”

Channeling Jack’s enduring thoughtfulness, for a brief moment, Baldwin got serious: “I’m grateful to be nominated,” he said. “You know how people always say it’s an honor just to be nominated — I don’t know about that. I guess it’s true. Maybe. But what I know for sure is it is an honor to be nominated every year the show has been on. It’s not something I take lightly.”

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The newlywed is in Long Island with his wife, just “taking the summer off.” The relaxation will be short-lived. “30 Rock” is about to embark on its abbreviated farewell season (the show’s seventh), and Baldwin has already lined up another time-consuming gig once it’s over: He’ll return to Broadway in the spring to star in Daniel Sullivan’s production of Lyle Kessler’s 1983 play “Orphans.” “I’m beyond excited for that,” he said. “It’s nice to change things up. And it’s great to be back in the theater world. He most recently appeared opposite Anne Heche in Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s “The Twentieth Century.” And in 1992, he received a Tony nomination as lead actor playing Stanley opposite Jessica Lange in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

“But there’s a while until that starts stressing me out,” he said.

What’s on his to-do list now?

“I’m going to Pilates,” he said. “Wait. First, I’m going to wipe the tears of doubt and self-loathing, clean myself up and fix my hair first. After that, dinner with my wife.”

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