At SDCC, Alec Baldwin talks his love for ‘Peanuts’ and the ‘immeasurable’ effects of his trial

Alec Baldwin left and a person dressed as the character Snoopy from Peanuts poses for a portrait to promote the th anniversary of Peanuts during Comic-Con International on Thursday July in San Diego AP Photo Chris Pizzello Alec Baldwin says the year since his trial suddenly ended with a dismissal has been far better than the limited years that preceded it and the affect that time has had on him has been immeasurable Something as powerful as that happens in your life you don t know how much it changes you he declared I can t even tell you how different I am from three-and-a-half years ago And what I want and what I don t want and how I want to live my life and not live my life The -year-old actor spoke to The Associated Press at San Diego s Comic-Con International where he was part of a panel on years of Charles Schulz s Peanuts whose simplicity existential philosophy and moral outlook have been very much on his mind Baldwin spoke while a suited Snoopy character stood nearby after posing for photos with him In a foreword Baldwin wrote for The Complete Peanuts - he announced while reading Schulz s newspaper comic strip every day as a child he realized Charlie Brown more than anyone sought the things he longed Chief among those wants are the desire to have friends and the desire to hold your friends close to you That hasn t changed in the years since Come on what man my age doesn t relate to Charlie Brown If Charlie Brown was years old he d be me but he wouldn t have been stupid enough to have seven small children he commented with a laugh But he aspires to the qualities of a different character Lucy I want to be Lucy Lucy is in charge She s got it all figured out he stated She pauses for a moment of self-awareness but not too long Baldwin disclosed he admired Schulz s simple line drawings combined with the real circumstances of the characters embodied by real children s voices when the animated holiday specials emerged in his childhood It s so complicated and simple at the same time which is what I think makes it beautiful he announced And he admired Schulz s willingness to embrace melancholy and deeper darknesses in stories about inner struggle that needed no villains A dog sitting on top of a dog house would have the same impact on you as like Nietzsche he explained looking across the room at Snoopy They should have named the dog Nietzsche Baldwin s career has had several distinct phases Early on he played tough husbands and boyfriends in supporting roles including Married to the Mob and Working Girl He moved on to heroic leading man in The Hunt for Red October and The Shadow Downshifting to memorable character parts he demonstrated his gift for manly speeches in Glengarry Glen Ross and The Departed and his comedy prowess in seven seasons of Rock and as a constant host and guest on Saturday Night Live In July his trial in New Mexico on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western Rust fell apart halfway through A judge dismissed the matter on charges government withheld evidence I can t believe that happened on that day the way it happened he revealed And it couldn t have been better for us in certain terms because of the malice and so forth and everything that s embodied in that whole situation The next phase is uncertain He says he s just trying to move forward with my wife and my family He and wife Hilaria and their seven small kids in recent days appeared on the TLC reality series The Baldwins He says he has successfully sold his young ones on Peanuts especially the Halloween and Christmas specials as he did with his now nearly -year-old daughter Ireland when she was young He notices their personalities zig-zagging between the traits of Schulz s characters They re Charlie Brown now they re Snoopy now they re Schroeder now they re Linus now they re Pig-Pen he stated They re Pig-Pen largest part of the time I must say And their house is full of themed toys He keeps a small Snoopy figure among the things in his office a reminder to try to maintain love kindness patience Peanuts are still kind of like in that zone he revealed Let s just try to be good people