FAN FACTS: Alec Baldwin

FAN FACTS

Alec Baldwin, star of `The Edge'

Machoism: The Edge is billed as a Boy's Own adventure, and Baldwin has been getting lessons at home courtesy of his own adventurous boy. The recent short-hair reincarnation of his wife, Kim Basinger, has made him nickname her Jim. Alec doesn't get offered many comedy parts.

Life doesn't imitate art: Kim and Alec met on the set of The Marrying Man, and just as in the films, Alec had to wait for the happy ending. A little bit longer than 91/2 weeks - he spent four years trying to persuade Kim to marry him. After filming The Getaway, this time it was fortunate that art didn't imitate life, and Kim said "yes" to marriage.

Put off the scent: Alec battles with ferocious bears in The Edge, but this is nothing compared to the efforts he made to stop the media from finding out about their wedding. Alec sent the guests invitations to a pie-eating competition to cover the scent.

Bare-faced: Alec's courtship of Kim was like an action film: straight to the point. When he first met Kim he asked her every night whether she wanted children; a few months later he said: "I know you don't love me, but trust me, you'll learn to love me."

Bear fights: Alec Baldwin left his little brother Billy pounds 2m out of pocket by flattening him in a basketball match. Billy was accidentally knocked out when they clashed as they jumped for a shot and had to pull out his next movie. Competition on the acting front between the Baldwin brothers is equally fraught, with Danny, Billy and Steve "all of them taking the food out of my mouth," says Alec.

Animal fever: Alec's chest rug sends the pulses of women racing. Small wonder that he calls it "the comeback of some animal".

`The Edge', also starring Anthony Hopkins and Elle MacPherson, is out today.