Alec Baldwin Once Slammed This Movie as “A Complete Disaster”

Alec Baldwin has had a long and successful career in Hollywood, working with top directors like David Mamet and Martin Scorsese and starring in films that became cultural touchstones. But not every project has been a hit. Baldwin has also taken roles in movies he later came to regret, calling some of them serious mistakes.

One film he has publicly criticized is the 2012 musical comedy Rock of Ages. The movie, directed by Adam Shankman, follows Julianne Hough’s character, a small-town girl who moves to Los Angeles to chase her dream of becoming a star. Baldwin played Dennis Dupree, a rock club owner, alongside Russell Brand.

Shankman told Collider that Baldwin was excited about the role at first. “When I talked to Alec, he said, ‘What would I do in the movie?’ I said, ‘You’re a guy from the ’60s who started this hot rock club.”

“You fostered all these people and nurtured them, but you’re really stoned. You started getting stoned in the ’60s but never stopped getting stoned. You’ve been so stoned for the last 27 years that you didn’t realise you were gay.’ And he was like, ‘I’m so in! That’s amazing!’ And then, with Russell, I said, ‘You play Alec Baldwin’s lover,’ and he just went, ‘I’m in!’” He said.

Despite the initial enthusiasm, Baldwin later admitted the production did not go as planned. Speaking at the American Magazine Media Conference, he called the film “a horrible movie” and “a complete disaster.” He described the experience as overwhelming, saying, “A week in, you go, ‘Oh God, what have I done?’” and compared it to being on a plane in trouble: “The plane is buffeting, the engine is on fire.”

Rock of Ages was adapted from a popular Broadway musical and features music from many 1980s rock bands, including Journey, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, and Guns N’ Roses.

The film starred Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Åkerman, Mary J. Blige, Bryan Cranston, and Tom Cruise. Cruise’s performances, particularly on songs like “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Wanted Dead or Alive,” received praise even as the film overall was criticized.

The movie premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on June 8, 2012, and was released in the U.S. a week later. Despite the star-studded cast and famous soundtrack, Rock of Ages was a box-office failure, earning only $59 million worldwide on a $75 million budget. Critics largely panned the script and the film’s handling of the musical material, though the soundtrack itself debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Soundtracks chart.

Baldwin’s honest criticism of Rock of Ages highlights that even experienced actors can take on projects that don’t work out. While the movie had high hopes and a talented cast, it ultimately became one of Baldwin’s most regretted roles.

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