TVSquad

"Hello, my name is Alec and I'm a retirement-holic. ...I don't know why, but I have this insatiable need to announce to the world again and again that I'm quitting the acting business. I don't know what I'm going to do."

Okay, that's not a real scene from the life of Alec Baldwin, but it might as well be. About a year and a half ago, Alec was kvetching about turning 50 years old and how he only cared about the Emmys honoring 30 Rock, and his plans to quit the business.

And now he's done it again. In an interview with Men's Journal, promoting his new movie with Meryl Streep and Steve Martin called It's Complicated, Alec Baldwin says he will quit acting in 2012 when his 30 Rock contract comes to an end.

In the new interview, Alec is quoted saying, "I don't have any interest in acting anymore. I'm not young, but I have time to do something else."

In the 2008 interview, he said, "There's other things to do. ...So I'm trying to decide what to do when I quit this business. ...Yeah, I do have to find another career. I don't want to do this. I don't."

Now, I wonder, is Alec being totally honest with us or is he just a chronic quitter? After all, if he really wants to do something else, do it. Why keep telling us about it? Just do it.

It's like Cher's neverending retirement tour -- which is still going on because she's playing Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas into next year.

Here's what I think stars like Alec Baldwin should do; don't make any pronouncements, just live your life and do your thing. If you want to change careers, do it. If you don't want to act anymore, don't.

Follow Gene Hackman's example. The two-time Oscar winner stopped acting in 2004. He just decided not to take any more movie or theater roles. No speech, no farewell tour. He just stopped working. He lives in Santa Fe with his wife Betsy.