Who was that scarred man, or, no one, you’re high, Alec

March 4, 2020 7:07 PM

CW for (possibly apocryphal) self-harm. In the Errol Morris episode of Here’s the Thing (11/12/2019) he and/orAlec Baldwin mention an actor who intentionally scarred himself for better or more interesting acting roles. Did this happen and who was this guy?

The episode is Errol Morris on Steve Bannon, Self-Loathing, and Life as a Private Eye. I found a really rough transcript on bullhorn.fm that shows the mention happening at sometime after the 12 minute mark. Baldwin (I think) mentions an actor who supposedly threw acid on himself to get more character roles (rather than presumably the Hunky Leading Man Pap he’d been landing). Does anyone know who they are talking about? I found Richard Lynch had a similarish sad story in his wiki bio, but it sounded more accidental and due to being high rather than an intentional thing.

posted by pepper bird to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

Baldwin says it was an actor high in Central Park so it's likely he was talking about Richard Lynch, he just confused being on acid (LCD) with throwing acid on himself. Here's Richard Lynch talking about setting himself on fire in Central Park while high. It sounds accidental and not to get better roles.
posted by bluecore at 5:45 AM on March 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: You’re likely right, bluecore. Thanks for the video link.
posted by pepper bird at 7:27 PM on March 8, 2020