Alec Baldwin is 66 years old. He has eight children, eight pets, two homes … and legal issues.
Is it any wonder the man gets a bit grumpy from time to time?
“Can he be a curmudgeon? Absolutely,” his 41-year-old wife Hilaria Baldwin said in an on-camera interview for “The Baldwins.” the family’s new TLC reality show. “Can he be set in his ways? Absolutely.”
Premiering Sunday, Feb. 23 at 10 p.m. ET on TLC, the show features the couple, who tied the knot in 2012, and their seven kids: Carmen, Rafael, Leonardo, Romeo, Eduardo, María Lucía and Ilaria. (Alec is also dad to older daughter Ireland Baldwin with ex-wife Kim Basinger. And Ireland has a daughter of her own, Holland, making Alec a grandfather.)
Hilaria continued, “But you know what? I get to see the Alec that’s really fantastic. He’s kind. He’s handsome. He’s extraordinarily smart and he’s so generous.”
The reality show gives a closer look at how the kind, handsome, smart, generous — and occasionally curmudgeonly — Alec Baldwin acts at home with his family. Here’s what we’ve learned so far.
Alec complained that they live in “a toy store”
Though the family has plenty of room in their Hamptons house, they share five bedrooms in their Manhattan home. While this is still an extremely large space by New York City standards, it’s still a lot of people and pets sharing one space.
“This apartment is like a toy store now,” Alec said as the camera pans to kids and chaos … and what appears to be an emotional support skeleton.
Alec detailed “the breaking point” when it comes to kids and mess
Alec has discussed his battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder in the past, and an increasing number of kids and animals only exacerbate the problem. Throughout the premiere episode, Alec washed dishes, scrubbed the trash can and straightened and tidied over and over again.
“He wants the shoes lined up a certain way and the toys put over here,” Hilaria said right before footage of Alec organizing the kids’ swim goggles.
“Five or more kids is the breaking point,” Alec said as his children ran through the house screaming and throwing toys on the floor. “It’s like constant attacks on the tidiness problem.”
Alec’s descriptions of his children are … interesting
When a producer asked Alec and Hilaria to describe their children, Hilaria said things about them being “so funny,” “sweet” or “smushy.”
Alec, on the other hand, called Rafael “mysterious,” imitated Romeo’s quirky habit of speaking out of the side of his mouth and said that Eduardo is a “horse.”
Alec pouted when he was left out
When the boys head to the barbershop together, they all got haircuts recommended by their big sister Carmen. Alec looked put out when he realized Carmen didn’t send a suggestion for him.
“Want her to send a picture for you?” Hilaria said to smooth things over.
“Yes, I actually do,” Alec said earnestly.
Carmen texted her mom an image of a much younger Alec with a fabulous haircut.
“1989. That’s from ‘Red October.'” Alec deadpanned as Hilaria laughed at his expense. “You were 5 years old. Your parents left you with a babysitter and they went to go see the movie.”
Alec loves children … until they turn 3
As Alec gets his hair cut, he and Hilaria chatted about the cliché of finding room in your heart to love so many children.
“I used to always say, ‘This one’s the best of all of them,’” said Alec about each new baby.
“Yeah, whenever they’re a certain age, you really like them,” said Hilaria. “And then they turn, like 3, and you’re like, ‘OK maybe not so much.’”
“Yeah, let’s leave them somewhere,” Alec replied.
Alec hates cats
Alec stayed with his friend Ronnie when he first moved to Los Angeles in 1983. Underneath the futon Alec was sleeping on were “enormous tumbleweeds of cat hair.”
Claiming that he had an asthma attack as a result, Alec described a trip to the hospital to get a shot of epinephrine.
“I said to my wife, ‘We can’t have cats. Ever,’” he said. “She goes out and buys four cats. Four.”
He added, “Cats just remind me of hospitalization.”
Alec told Hilaria to “talk slower”
As Hilaria described her feelings about signing a prenuptial agreement before their wedding, she began to get heated. Words started flying out of her mouth at a rapid pace.
“Let’s talk slower. You’re speaking English in a Spanish cadence, which is always perilous for me,” he said with patronizing calm. “I can’t understand you.”
When Alec loves Hilaria the best
