" Music is everywhere, and music is everything."

In 2012, Alec Baldwin spoke with Billy Joel on his podcast Here’s the Thing.  At one point in the conversation, Alec told Billy that he had all the skills to be an actor and asked him why he never pursued it.

Billy Joel:  I never was comfortable in front of a camera.

Alec Baldwin:  Really?  Even though you had to perform in front of a camera for the last 30 years, basically.

Billy Joel:  Yes.  Make videos…which was torture for me.

Alec Baldwin:  To a degree you’re comfortable in front of a camera so long as you were playing.

Billy Joel:  Not even then.  Not even then.  I was aware of the camera.  It was an invader.  It was invasive to me.  I became a musician because I never felt I was photogenic.  I was never happy with how I looked.  It’s about a microphone, not about a camera.  I was very comfortable in the studio.  I’m very comfortable far away on a stage, or an album cover.  Whenever there was a camera, it kind of destroyed what I was trying to create.  It took away the imagination.

Alec Baldwin:  I’ve always said this – acting is what you do when you have no musical ability.  If I could do what you do, I would never do what I do.

Billy Joel:  That’s what actors say.  They all want to be musicians.

Alec Baldwin:  A film or a television program, you have to make an appointment with that and watch that.  You can listen to music when you’re jogging, while you’re at the gym, while you’re making love, while you’re having dinner, while you’re in the car.  It can be the soundtrack to your life, all day long if you want it.

Billy Joel: In church.

Alec Baldwin:  Anywhere.  Music is everywhere, and music is everything.  And acting is, like I said, what you do when you have no musical talent.