Updated March 16, 2017 14:00:30

Alec Baldwin has made a name for himself playing "bombastic" alpha male characters and sending up their insecurities for comedic effect.

But when it comes to possibly his most famous role — impersonating US President Donald Trump — the actor says we're through the looking glass.

"Trump is a wild card, you know? Which is the last thing you want with a president," Baldwin told ABC News Breakfast.

Baldwin gained a fresh following in 2006 after his portrayal of an NBC executive in the sitcom 30 Rock, and said the key was finding the humanity in the person.

"When we did 30 Rock the character was this kind of supercilious, self-important guy, but I wanted to show the desperation underneath that guy as much as possible," Baldwin said.

"He was really fronting for his own insecurity, otherwise it isn't funny.

"You know, with Trump [it's] the same thing.

"I mean Trump is more of a kind of a through-the-looking-glass, because we reflect back so much of what he says and does."

Baldwin premiered his impersonation of Mr Trump on Saturday Night Live last year as the US was in the thrall of a divisive election campaign.

He earned widespread acclaim and has reprised his role in many more skits sending up the US President since, including most recently a video pretending Mr Trump was cracking down on aliens from another planet.

When Baldwin hosted SNL last month the show recorded its highest rating in six years, and eclipsed even Mr Trump's own episode as host.

Mr Trump has been unimpressed, however, saying the impersonation "stinks" and was "sad", and he accused the media of trying to rig the election.

Baldwin is unapologetic, and has doubled down on his critique, saying the world needs some form of release from the President.

"There's a lot of people in the country who didn't vote for Trump," he said.

"I dare say that as the weeks progress, there are people who voted for Trump and they're not quite sure what they've gotten us into.

"The President's policies can go on either side to the right or the left but the one thing you want is a president who's got a steadfastness who can help the country, you know, steel themselves and face their problems and try to move forward with their lives.

"And Trump is someone who just makes everybody nervous and makes everybody anxious, [which is] the last thing you want the President to do."

Topics: us-elections, government-and-politics, arts-and-entertainment, comedy-humour, united-states

First posted March 16, 2017 11:41:57