Alec Baldwin Gives Candid Recovery Update After Hip Replacement Surgery

Alec Baldwin opened up about his recent hip replacement surgery, telling fans it was a long time coming.

The 65-year-old appeared to be in good spirits as he explained to his Instagram followers that he had undergone surgery on his right hip. "I had my left hip done in 2018, five years ago, and I had the other one done five days ago," Baldwin said in the selfie-style clip.

"The pain goes away gradually, but it is incredibly painful," the 65-year-old admitted. "But as we keep saying in my house, 'It’s the pain that’s going to end the pain.'"

The 30 Rock actor and producer continued, "I needed this surgery done at least two years ago and walked around and limped and I did myself no favors because the compensatory damage you do to your back, your neck, your feet, and your knees is not great."

"So to limp around with this condition for two years was tough, but I didn’t have the time to do it work wise or schedule wise. I didn’t have four to six weeks to limit myself that way. Or my glucose issues affected that, so it was very tough," he added. "We would line up a date to do the surgery and I would fail my blood sugar test. But I got all that together and we had the operation done. And it hurts. It really, really hurts."

Pain aside, Baldwin seems grateful to have had the surgery and to be on the mend without any complications. Towards the end of the clip, the actor even joked about the post-op process.

"But the painkillers they gave me the night I was in the hospital…Tuesday night, I took the painkillers, and, man, I haven’t been that high since 1977," he said. "It’s incredible and I just couldn’t take it because you can’t function. I don’t think they really kill the pain as much as they shut your brain off."

Despite the discomfort, he said he's using his recovery time wisely–in what he called the "movie zone," spending time catching up on previously released films and TV series he was otherwise too busy to watch.

Next: How Alec Baldwin Reacted to Becoming a Grandfather for the First Time