Stephen Baldwin has made controversial claims against Jennifer Aniston, claiming he was fired from a major movie role because he was funnier than his A-list co-star.
Speaking on his podcast, A bad moviethe 60-year-old actor revealed that he was originally cast as Aniston’s boyfriend in the 1998 romantic comedy The object of my love.
But his time on the production was cut incredibly short when he was suddenly let go two days into filming to apparently outshine Friends star on the set.
Baldwin recalled the incident, explaining that a producer entered his trailer after lunch on the second day of filming to inform him that there was a problem.
According to the actor, the producer told him, “You can’t be funnier than Jennifer,” to which Baldwin replied, “Is this a joke? This is a comedy movie!”
While clarifying that he wasn’t trying to tear anyone down by sharing the story publicly now, he admitted that he had no idea where the directive for his performance actually came from.
After the warning is Usual suspects star was asked to tone down his comedic delivery, a limitation he likened to being castrated comically.
He returned to the set the following day and tried not to be himself, but the adjustment ultimately failed and he was officially let go from the project.
The role was subsequently handed over Love you star John Pankow.
Released in 1998, The object of my love Aniston stars as a pregnant social worker who develops romantic feelings for her gay roommate, played by Paul Rudd.
The film achieved modest success at the box office upon initial release and has since developed a dedicated cult following.
Its enduring popularity was cemented last year when both Parade and InStyle ranked it as one of the best breakup movies of all time.
After the success of the rom-com, Aniston successfully broke out of her comedy niche by taking on more edgy projects, including cult black comedy Office space and the critically acclaimed Mike White drama The good girl.
She later reunited with Rudd on the set of Friends and worked with him for the third time in the 2012 comedy Wanderlust.
In contrast, Baldwin’s acting career has slowed considerably since his professional heyday in the 1990s.
At the height of his film career, the youngest Baldwin brother starred in high-profile features such as The usual suspects, Triangleand Bio-Dome.
In the 2000s he had switched to reality TV and appeared in a number of popular competition programmes, including The mole, Celebrity Big Brother, The celebrity apprentice, I’m a celebrity…get me out of here!and Special Forces: The world’s toughest test.
