Matt Williams Alec Baldwin could be the next US actor to enter politics after saying he was giving "serious thought" to running for Congress.

Matt Williams

Alec Baldwin could be the next US actor to enter politics after saying he was giving "serious thought" to running for Congress.

The film and TV star told Playboy magazine that the desire to run for office was there, but added that he would have to wait for the right opportunity.

In his blog for an American website, Baldwin denied speculation that he was preparing to run against former vice-presidential candidate Joe Lieberman.

The 51-year-old actor is well known for his political activism. The Democrat has often clashed with right-wing commentators such as Bill O'Reilly of Fox News.

Asked in the Playboy interview if he wanted to take his political involvement one step further and run for office, Baldwin replied: "The desire is there; that's one component. The other component is opportunity."

He added that he would love to run against Mr Lieberman, but added that at this stage it was "all fantasy".

Baldwin later confirmed that he would not be running in Connecticut. On his blog, he wrote: "As much as I think Lieberman is an enormous letdown to the party that gave him their nomination for vice-president, I am sure the Democratic Party leaders in that state will take care of themselves."

However, he did not rule out a more active political role going forward.

"Running for public office involves among the most sacred trusts that one can enter into and I would like to give that a lot of serious thought before I decide if that is right for me and the voters I would potentially serve."

But given his past controversies - including a leaked answerphone rant in which he berated his then 11-year-old daughter - Baldwin appears to be under no illusions about the scrutiny under which a move into public service would place him. He told Playboy: "If I run for political office, they'll have a forest of material to kill me with."