Stephen Baldwin Claims He Was Fired From 1998 Rom-Com for Being Funnier Than Jennifer Aniston

Stephen Baldwin is opening up about a behind-the-scenes moment he’s kept under wraps for decades — and it involves getting the boot from a film starring Jennifer Aniston.

The actor dropped a bombshell on the June 14 episode of his podcast One Bad Movie, revealing that he was originally cast in the 1998 romantic comedy directed by Nicholas Hytner, The Object of My Affection — only to be fired just two days into production.

“It was when I was really young and coming up,” Baldwin, 60, said on the podcast. “I went in and auditioned to play the sidekick, kind of almost boyfriend of Jennifer Aniston.”

Baldwin had landed the role of Aniston’s boyfriend in the film, which also starred Paul Rudd. But things went sideways almost immediately after cameras started rolling. “I’ve never told this story before,” he said, before recounting the moment a producer showed up at his trailer with some alarming news.

“After the second day of shooting, after lunch this producer comes to my trailer and goes, ‘There’s a problem,'” Baldwin recalled on One Bad Movie. “I go, ‘What’s up?’ and he goes, ‘You can’t be funnier than Jennifer.’ I go, ‘Is this a joke? This is a comedy movie!'”

The Usual Suspects star said he had no idea where the directive had originated and wasn’t sharing the story to “shred anybody, this is to simply say Hollywood is Hollywood.” Still, being asked to dial back his natural comedic instincts felt like being “castrated comedically,” he said.

“You hired me to play a role and now you’re telling me not to play that role,” Baldwin said. He explained that he returned to set the following day and “tried not to be me” — but the experiment failed, and he was ultimately “let go.”

In Baldwin’s place, producers cast John Pankow — a familiar face from the hit sitcom Mad About You.

As Star previously reported, Baldwin faced legal trouble years later after failing to pay New York State income taxes for 2008, 2009 and 2010, ultimately reaching a plea deal that spared him jail time but left him on the hook for roughly $400,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest.