We can’t even imagine the presidential election and Donald Trump’s presidency without Alec Baldwin. His almost-weekly hilarious impression is essential to our existence at this point, and it almost didn’t happen at all!

In an article for the April issue of Vanity Fair, Alec revealed that he needed some serious coaxing to agree to the Saturday Night Live role. He wrote:

“When Lorne called me and asked, ‘Do you want to do this?,’ I said, ‘No, I don’t want to be Trump on TV!’ Because anytime you do any kind of mimicry, it’s of somebody that you appreciate. I didn’t hate Trump. I just didn’t want to play him. But Tina and Lorne pushed me, so I finally said yes.”

During the video interview portion with Vanity Fair, Alec elaborated on the large factor that complicated his choice. He said:

“I was supposed to do a film. And the people who were doing the film were supposed to escrow money to guarantee that I would get paid. And they didn’t put the money in escrow. And that’s when I hung up and said I’m not going to go do the movie and I’m going to go do the thing with Lorne. And I think to myself, ‘What if I hadn’t done that?’… It’s turned out to be this incredible opportunity.”

We like to call it a “yuge opportunity,” Alec.

The April issue of Vanity Fair will hit Los Angeles and New York newsstands on March 30, and everywhere else on April 4.