Kim Basinger Failed to Run off Alec Baldwin Before Their Wedding - She Was Able to After 8 Years of Marriage

In the 90s, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger were one of the hottest couples in Hollywood. However, it took some time for them to get married because, at one point, Basinger called off their engagement.

Kim Basinger first met Alec Baldwin in Los Angeles in 1990 at a dinner meeting at Morton's. At the time, they met to discuss the film, "The Marrying Man," where they would be co-stars.

Sparks flew between them, and the actress recalled how he'd kissed her and asked if she wanted children. Basinger tried to brush his advances off during the session, but her efforts were pointless.

She called the "30 Rock" actor "psychotic" and asked that they focus on the movie. However, Baldwin responded by calling his best friend and confessing that Basinger was driving him insane before claiming they were getting married!

The actress alleged that she wasn't interested in romance, having just ended her first marriage to makeup artist Ron Britton that had lasted for eight years. As much as she tried, the star couldn't deny that she had feelings for the actor.

In 1993, a senior crew member from "The Marrying Man" revealed that the sexual tension between the two stars could be felt. The source said it felt like a heat-seeking missile had been fired and detonated.

The crew and cast also got to witness the pair's fiery squabbles on-set where the two stars slammed doors, yelled at each other, and threw phones as they tried to let off some steam. That was the time when Baldwin bewitched the actress.

ENGAGEMENT THAT ALMOST DIDN'T HAPPEN

Baldwin spent the next couple of years trying to convince Basinger to marry him. It's good to note that she wasn't the first woman he proposed to because, in 1983, he was briefly engaged to Janine Turner, the actress who starred in "Northern Exposure."

Baldwin even went as far as standing by his girlfriend's side when Basinger fought a court case in March 1983. He shielded the "Hard Country" actress from the press, and his efforts were eventually rewarded.

In June 1983, after he and his girlfriend shot their second movie together, "The Getaway," the "Saturday Night Live" star proposed again. This time the actress was quick to agree!

Then in March 1992, Basinger called off the wedding when she learned that Baldwin had had dinner with Turner. The star's fiancée was so upset that according to New York magazine, she told Baldwin:

“You’re history now—the wedding is out the window.”

SEVEN-MINUTE NUPTIALS

The actor had to woo Basinger again to get her back to the altar. Baldwin, then-35, was so determined to marry the actress as quickly as possible that he put their wedding together in just six weeks!

The plans included white baby roses used in his bride's tiara and surprise fireworks. Attendees only learned the event's exact location when they called in their RSVPs.

Most of the people who attended were from his side and included 90 family and friends, and his famous brothers, Daniel, William, and Stephen. From Basinger's side, only ten people came.

They included two members of her family, her father Don and her younger sister Ashley Brewer. On the eve of the ceremony, the groom was nervous because he wasn't sure that his bride would pitch, and he repeatedly checked with Brewer.

On August 19, 1993, the ceremony was held at sunset at Baldwin's Long Island, East Hampton beach house. Basinger, then-39, did arrive and wore a white floor-length, scoop-necked gown while the groom sported a black tuxedo.

She and the actor were jittery, and Justice James R. Ketcham performed the seven-minute "nervous" ceremony. On the menu were foods like new potatoes in crème fraîche.

Four press helicopters flew overhead, causing delays to the torch-lit ceremony. Another incident that occurred during the event was that a "National Enquirer" photographer was led away in handcuffs for trying to crash the party by impersonating an undercover police officer!

THE TRUTH ABOUT THEIR LOVE

David Foster, co-producer of the "The Getaway" remake, previously shared that he'd never seen a man more in love and as protective as Baldwin. He also noted this about the couple:

“The one indelible impression they left is that they have this incredible love for each other.”

The first couple of years of their marriage were described as passionate. In 1994, Basinger confessed to Redbook that she was in love with her husband, and they were highly attracted to each other.

She also described her husband as comfortable with being a man, and he was also quite confident. The couple seemed like they were perfect to those looking in from the outside.

WELCOMING IRELAND

Things between Baldwin and his wife appeared to be great, and in October 1995, they welcomed their first child together. The duo became parents to a baby girl whom they named Ireland.

The actor was then involved in an incident where he got into a scuffle with photographer Alan Zanger while coming home from the hospital with his wife and child. Zanger lost his footing, tumbled into trash cans, and broke his glasses.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

The pair's stormy temperament followed Basinger and Baldwin into their marriage. A senior crew member from "The Marrying Man" set recalled how they never thought the couple would marry.

The insider said they anticipated that the duo would self-destruct. The tantrums witnessed by the crew were 100 times worse in person, and it was like the pair were two children having a contest to see who could be brattier.

Baldwin's anger issues didn't help his relationship at all. In 1997, the star had to pay $4,500 to Zanger for beating him up. The actor also sprayed the photographer's truck with shaving cream and broke his nose.

He was acquitted of misdemeanor battery charges but won an invasion of privacy suit against Zanger. The photographer also won a case for damages against the famous actor.

Baldwin's anger issues filtered into his and his wife's relationship, with him harboring problems that happened a year or two ago. He would allegedly bring those incidents up to use them to abuse Basinger.

Such incidences occurred in the public eye. However, when they started happening in front of Ireland, that's the moment the actress decided she wasn't going to put up with it, and she warned him that he had to overcome his anger.

She threatened the actor that otherwise she wouldn't be able to live with him. The couple attempted counseling, but the attempts failed, with Basinger's father noting how Baldwin only attended twice before quitting.

FILING FOR DIVORCE

When Ireland was five, she and her mother went to Basinger's father's home in Athens, Georgia, to spend ten days there for the Christmas season. While staying at the condo, the star wasn't bothered by the media.

With Christmas Day around the corner, Baldwin joined his family for the festivities for the last time. After a few days, the actor flew back to the north, but his wife stayed behind to help cook a traditional southern New Year's meal.

Then in January 2001, the actress suddenly filed for divorce, describing her husband as "a tin-pot tyrant and bully." She cited irreconcilable differences and his mood swings for a reason behind the filing.

Baldwin felt hopeless and described it as someone punching him hard in the stomach before he had to run a marathon. He said he couldn't imagine finding a new lover and needed Basinger back in his life.

The actor told his estranged wife that their daughter would be better off living with him, but she vowed that would never happen while she was still alive. Their living arrangements also played a part in the couple's separation.

Basinger revealed Baldwin always wanted to live in Long Island, where they owned a home in Amagansett but never stayed in it. The actress wasn't keen on the area because of the commute to work.

She also called herself a "gypsy at heart" who could drop everything and travel to France or even Africa to live there for a year. However, her husband was more stubborn.

By November 2002, the estranged couple's divorce was finalized, and they reached a custody agreement. He agreed to go for anger therapy, parenting school, and only 90-minute calls to his daughter daily.

Basinger said she'd install a private phone line for Ireland and would e-mail Baldwin weekly reports on their daughter's activities. However, in October 2006, the actor took his wife to court for allegedly obstructing his visits and telephone calls before dropping the charges to make peace.

In April, the following year, a voice mail left by Baldwin for his daughter was released. In it, he claimed Ireland had insulted him for not picking up and claimed she didn't have brains or human decency.

Things between them [Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin] have since settled and they are even able to joke and tease each other.

He threatened to fly over and deal with her before calling his daughter "a rude, thoughtless little pig." The actor ended up apologizing and claimed he'd left the message for his ex-wife and not his daughter.

MAKING PEACE & MOVING ON

Ultimately, Basinger and Baldwin were able to reach an understanding and were said to be on good terms. The latter got married again to Hilaria in 2012, and they now have six children together.

Basinger started seeing her longtime hairstylist, Mitch Stone, in 2014, and three years later, they were still together. Baldwin and Basinger have since found a balance in the co-parenting of their daughter.

Things between them have since settled, and they can even joke and tease each other. Like in May 2021, the actor posted an Instagram photo with some of his children, and Basinger teased him that the offspring were cute and not him.